PORTLAND, Maine — Portland's Fitzpatrick Stadium is set for significant changes, despite school and community pushback.
Portland City Council voted 6-2 during their meeting Monday night to amend its contract with the Portland Hearts of Pine professional soccer team, allowing the club to make various upgrades to the stadium. Some of these changes include new turf, repainted field lines, and the removal of Portland High School's Bulldog mascot from the field.
These alterations are necessary for the stadium to meet professional soccer league standards. However, concerns have been made by Portland school sports teams, which also use the stadium. Some fear the upgrades will reduce their access to the field and diminish the sense of school pride associated with Fitzpatrick Stadium.
During the city council meeting, members of the public voiced their opposition.
"The history behind Fitzpatrick Stadium, the logo that sits on it, and the school it represents is too much to tamper with," one school soccer player said, urging the council to reconsider.
Walter Hattenbach, another member of Portland’s high school soccer team, also spoke out against the decision: "The action of taking this Bulldog from the field and the scoreboard will take away part of our home and community. This will make our home games feel foreign, and our stadium feel like any other."
Councilor Roberto Rodriguez, who supported the contract amendment, emphasized that local schools would still have access to the stadium.
"I believe our parks department and the Hearts of Pine organization are all deeply invested in making sure all our schools remain able to access and use the field as they always have," Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez also pointed out that federal funding helps cover maintenance costs for Fitzpatrick Stadium, which means no one, including the professional soccer team, gets priority use of the field.
While the Portland Public Schools Department declined to provide a comment, it said it plans to meet with the Hearts of Pine soccer team to discuss future field use.