After a tense city council meeting on Monday where city officials seemed adamant that Ahern Field in East Cambridge should have artificial turf, city manager Yi-An Huang issued a statement Wednesday evening reversing course.
“After careful consideration of community input, City Council feedback, and the project’s overall goals, we have decided not to install a synthetic turf field or the athletic lighting, which was included to support additional permitted use of the space,” the statement said in part (read the full statement below).
“Instead, we will move forward with reconstructing the natural grass field, including improvements to drainage and irrigation that will enhance field quality and usability.”
“This approach reflects the community’s preference for a natural grass field and will create the type of open space many residents have told us they want to see at Ahern,” the statement said, acknowledging the large number of residents who had argued for natural turf.
Excitement in East Cambridge
At a meeting of the East Cambridge Planning Team (ECPT) on Wednesday, neighborhood residents had been planning further steps to put pressure on the city administration.
“I’m a bit in shock, to be honest,” said Paola Rebusco. “We came into this meeting with flyers and a presentation and then, you know, we heard this. We’re of course very excited. I still have lots of questions but I think it’s a a great beginning.”
Irene Kang was also at the meeting and said that after weeks of WhatsApp group conversations, talking with neighbors formally and informally and other grass roots efforts, “I’m feeling good” about the decision. “There are a lot of parents in the neighborhood and across Cambridge who are all very passionate about this issue,” Kang said.
Bob Simha, the nonagenarian vice president of the ECPT, called the city’s reversal the result of genuine grassroots pressure. “When the people finally speak, when you wake them up and make them angry, they finally have an effect,” he said. He said it makes a particular impression on city councillors when more than 2,000 people sign a petition. Only three councillors received more than 2,000 votes in the last election.
Also at the meeting was city councillor Cathie Zusy, who said she thought the groundswell of new voices in city politics had caused the city council and city administration to listen. “It was against all odds to shift the city management, and in this case it’s the best decision for the community,” Zusy said.
Asked about next steps, Rebusco and Kang both mentioned getting some sleep. “I’m planning to go to bed,” Rebusco said. “We have not stopped in weeks.”
Expanded hours at Danehy
Huang’s statement noted that while the field will have better drainage and irrigation, those would come with trade-offs: “A natural grass surface will continue to have limitations on the amount and intensity of use it can accommodate compared to an all-weather field.”
The statement noted that funding initially earmarked for lighting the Ahern Field would be shifted to expand playable hours at Danehy Park, which has a synthetic turf field.
Huang praised the civic process, saying in the statement, “One of the things that makes Cambridge special is the extraordinary level of civic engagement our residents bring to community issues. People care deeply about their neighborhoods, parks, schools, and public spaces, and they are willing to invest their time and energy in helping shape decisions.”
Anger about the process
But Anthony Galluccio, a former Cambridge mayor who coaches for several youth sports leagues, including soccer and football, expressed disappointment via a late-night email, saying that “kids in The Port and East Cambridge will never know what they lost” and that the city had essentially created a private park.
“Kids will always be easy to take for granted. Loud, active adults will always win. What is most disappointing is the lack of recognition that this is an equity issue,” Galluccio said. “Leadership requires courage. Unfortunately, we are becoming a reactionary, town-meeting form of government rather than [making] decisions based on the long term good of the city. Essentially, the rules have changed to whoever gets the most public speakers will win.”
One of the most outspoken residents in favor of keeping natural grass was Jia-Jing Lee. While relieved that Ahern Field would remain natural grass, she, too, was concerned by the process.
“Both the City and the [School] District need to listen to residents and families early, before major decisions are effectively already made,” she wrote in an email to Cambridge Day. “Public process should not feel like something that happens after the direction has already been chosen.”
She said the city needed “a more transparent and genuinely responsive process.” Several city councillors at Monday night’s meeting had also seemed frustrated by the city’s apparent lack of openness to public input about the park.
Lee ended by saying “I’m grateful to the residents who kept asking questions, to the councillors who pushed for answers, and to the City for listening and changing course.”
This story was updated with comments from the East Cambridge Planning Team meeting and other members of the community.
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