Bids For Monterey Soccer Field Open

Prospective bids for a soccer and baseball field to be built in Monterey are currently open.

Monterey Cultural Administrator Rafferty Cleary said that the project is currently waiting to hear answers from potential bidders.

“Based on the plans that we’ve been working out with the engineer for the past several months, those plans are now final,” Cleary said. “As far as the way that board of alderman and other city leaders are wanting them.”

Cleary said that the bidding is also a research tool for the board, as it will allow them to gain a better idea of what the price range will be. He said that several unknowns regarding the price of development could lead to them rejecting offers deemed too expensive.

Cleary said that in order to put in the additional soccer field, construction has to eliminate some current field lighting. He said that concerns were raised about whether the new lighting would be sufficient to light the entire field. He said that the ideal lighting for the soccer field would put a poll in the middle of the outfield of the baseball section.

“Of course, Monterey currently has just a limited amount of money for this project,” Cleary said. “We had a $250,000 state appropriation that came through last year and we’ve set aside a couple more thousands of dollars, $30,000 I believe from some of the COVID funding that came down a couple of years ago, so we only have a limited amount of funds.”

Cleary said that the soccer field will help accommodate the growth Monterey has seen. Despite the growth, children in Putnam town still don’t have a soccer league and are forced to play in teams sponsored by neighboring towns, Cleary said.

“There’s kids, there’s a certain area in town almost weekly 20, 30, sometimes more than that, that are playing soccer in an open lot here in town,” Cleary said. “So there’s an interest in the sport in Monterey.”