A mystery group is proposing the development of four athletic fields at the Rye Golf Club at 330 Boston Post Road. In a detailed proposal sent anonymously to the City in December, and then updated and resent in January, the proposal details “a modest reallocation of less than 7% of the facility’s 126-acre land parcel would allow for the creation of four additional
athletic fields”.
The issue of athletic fields has become a divisive issue in Rye as the City Council has debated the proposal for the installation of artificial turf at Rye Recreations Nursery Field on Milton Road. Wednesday evening, City staff will be presenting all the background on the Nursery Field proposal as part of the Council’s “pause” on the project.
The group behind the field proposal for the golf club is remaining completely anonymous and refuses to identify itself. It is so secretive it communicates with Proton mail, a Swiss end-to-end encrypted email service, as if the group is some sort of deepthroat.
“I kind of feel like I’m shadowboxing,” said Rye City Manager Greg Usry, who has invited the group to identify themselves and come in for a discussion. “Because there’s no one to engage with and if they want to make a serious suggestion then they actually have to come and sit down with us.”
In an email to MyRye.com, the secretive group maintains “There are seven companies interested in pursuing this project and we want to follow Bidnet protocol if the city chooses to move forward.”
The proposal shows 6.71 acres of Rye Golf’s 126 acres impacted by the installation of one artificial, multi-sport turf field and three multi-sport grass youth fields. It lays out what it says are optimal traffic, parking and hydrology / drainage situations as compared to other possible field locations. The proposal would require a 3% reduction in golf course yardage and modifications of the 11th and 12th holes.
Curiously, the mystery group says the proposal will cost just over $3 million. This is the same amount the Let the Kids Play group has pledged towards the construction of the artificial turf at Nursery Field. A strange coincidence.
The proposals:
Latest: 330-Boston-Post-Road-Athletic-Field-Proposal-January-9-2024-v-1.5
Earlier: 330-Boston-Post-Road-Athletic-Field-Proposal-December-15-2023-v-1
