Davis wants new Saugus softball field

SAUGUS – World Series Park Superintendent Bob Davis wants to replace the soccer field to the left of the Belmonte Middle School with a “state of the art softball field” at little to no cost to the town.If agreed to, Davis said he will maintain the field himself, much as he does with World Series Park.?I?m excited about doing something like this, and am willing to do it and will coordinate it,” he said during Monday?s Belmonte Middle School Building Committee meeting. “Everything from picking up trash to lining the field … It?s for the good and that?s why I?m doing it. It?s for the good of the town and for the good of the kids.”The soccer field is currently fenced off and is being used as a construction staging area for the middle school repair project. The area is filled in with gravel and is full of storage containers, dumpsters, building materials and construction workers? cars.Once construction is finished, construction management firm Consigli is supposed to re-spread loam on the field and re-seed it to restore the field to the way it was. However, Davis said now is the perfect opportunity to make it into a softball field because all Consigli would need to do is not re-seed what would be the softball infield.?Consigli would spread out the loam, put the seed in and walk away,” said Davis on Tuesday. “I?m going to have a professional lay it out and everything. It?s fairly costly, but I have some donors that are willing to put up the bucks for this. It will cost nothing to the town or anybody.”Davis noted that there wouldn?t be any interference with the soccer season since softball and soccer are played at different times of the year.Davis said he would dig out where the infield would be, add crushed rock and drainage pipes, and then lay down four to six inches of a special infield mix made up of clay, sand and silt.?It should keep it fairly dry,” said Davis. “It?s basically a low-maintenance type field. It?s 100-fold easier to take care of than a baseball field because there?s no grass on the infield, you don?t have to water it. It?s a traditional softball field.”Davis said he plans to meet with town and school officials to discuss the idea further.?I want to get permission to do it before I go after it,” said Davis. “I think everybody wins. Youth and Recreation thinks it?s a good idea. I think it would be a good thing. I think the town is severely in need of a good softball field.”If agreed to, Davis said a new softball field could be up and running by the spring.