GREENFIELD — A lacrosse field is coming to a park on Greenfield’s east side, kicking off the development of a green space leaders would like to see evolve over the coming years.
The field will be at the 13-acre Macy Park, located south of East McKenzie Road and west of Jaycie Phelps Drive. A growing youth lacrosse program in the city will use the field for practices.
The field will be on the north side of the property. A gravel parking lot with about 12 spaces will span to its west, along with a small shelter and portable toilet.
Jenna Wertman, senior planner for the city of Greenfield, said at a Greenfield Board of Zoning Appeals meeting last week that the lacrosse field will likely remain over the next several years. Long-term conceptual plans for the park, she continued, call for a walking trail, sports fields, playground equipment and other amenities.
“While this isn’t necessarily a lacrosse field in the conceptual design, this kind of flows with a Phase One that allows some activity to start happening on this park without making a lot of permanent improvements that would have to be ripped out later if the full park were to be developed,” Wertman said.
The site was dedicated to the Greenfield Parks Department for a future park during the development of the Keystone subdivision to its east and south.
Ellen Kuker, Greenfield parks superintendent, said at the board of zoning appeals meeting that the parks department has a long history of working with youth athletic organizations like the Greenfield Lacrosse Club, which started in 2016.
“We’ve been working with them for a couple years now trying to identify a place they could call home,” Kuker said.
With lacrosse fields being about the size of a football field, the parks department didn’t have any property available in its inventory that could accommodate games. Practices, however, would work well at Macy Park, the department determined.
Leaders at the meeting said because it’s a practice field, most parents will opt to drop off and pick up rather than stay, negating the need for a large parking lot.
Kuker said the lacrosse club has arrangements with Greenfield-Central schools to use some of its playing fields for games and tournaments.
Alonso Miller, program director of Greenfield Lacrosse Club, said at the meeting that this year the club has a 14-and-under boys team and a 12-and-under boys team along with a 10-and-under girls team and a 14-and-under girls team. A co-ed 8-and-under team will play as well.
Players use a stick with a webbed end to carry, catch, throw and shoot a ball about the size of a tennis ball into a netted goal defended by the other team.
Miller, who played lacrosse for Ball State University and formerly coached the sport at Center Grove High School, told the Daily Reporter that about 40 kids have registered with the Greenfield Lacrosse Club for the upcoming season. The club accepts kids age 5 through 14 and some 15-year-olds who are eighth-graders. Kids living in Hancock County and its outer fringes can join the club. Registration is still open, and more information is available at greenfieldlax.org/registration.
Practices last an hour to an hour-and-a-half, depending on age, Miller said at the board of zoning appeals meeting. He added lacrosse season starts in April and wraps up before Memorial Day. Some off-season practice will pick up in the fall, he continued.
No Hancock County schools have lacrosse programs, but Miller hopes the Greenfield Lacrosse Club will one day be a feeder program for future school teams. School districts across the state have lacrosse programs, he told the Daily Reporter, and there’s a push for the Indiana High School Athletic Association to recognize the sport.
The Greenfield Board of Zoning Appeals approved Macy Park’s lacrosse field plans 3-0, with Mike Terry, Leo Davis and Joe Lonnemann voting in favor.
Ken Noe, who lives in the Keystone neighborhood, said at the meeting he’s concerned about the lack of good sight lines for drivers crossing the bridge on McKenzie Road to the west of the park. Drivers may not see vehicles coming in and out of the parking lot until it’s too late, he said.
“I can see that being a considerable concern for traffic accidents happening right there,” Noe said.
Josh Gentry, who works for the parks department, said his observations of the site led him to believe the sight lines are adequate, however.
A letter from the Keystone Homeowners Association to the board of zoning appeals also expresses concern over the gravel parking lot, as some of its residents own motorcycles that could slide on loose gravel kicked onto the road surface.
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