With its lease agreement with the Cathedral of the Incarnation nearing its June 30 expiration, the Garden City School District is asking residents on May 16 to support its desire to purchase the Garden City Middle School fields.

Residents will be asked to approve a 20-year serial bond at $5.185 million, which encompasses both the $4.2 million purchase price and the $985,000 in improvements, including re-seeding, re-configuration and improved irrigation. Currently, nine fields exist. However, after consulting with the district's athletic director, officials propose re-configuring the parcel into eight fields.

Because money has been allotted for the purchase and its related improvements in past budgets, residents will not see an increase in their taxes if the district receives the green light.

The district has leased the 11.6 acres of land from the Cathedral since July 1, 1956. The original 20-year lease included three 10-year extensions, bringing it to a 50-year term. According to John Powell, the district's assistant superintendent for business and finance, although "very favorable terms," the Cathedral back in 1993 experienced financial problems and indicated they intended on selling the property. As a result, the district has been negotiating with Cathedral officials for the past 12 to 13 years.

"When the board of education originally voted on the bond amount, you may remember it was for a total of $5.5 million," Garden City Board of Education President Ken Monaghan said. "We are currently using $5.185 million, which is the number that will be on the ballot."

The decrease is a direct result of the district's option to re-seed rather than sod the fields. "We looked carefully at the question of seeding and the benefit of having the property sodded," Monaghan said, adding that although the turnaround time if sodded would be much faster, sod is not conducive to athletic use. "The wear and tear is greater. We came to the conclusion that not only is it less expensive for us to seed but, as we had heard when we did the lower fields at the high school, it's more appropriate for us to seed."

Powell anticipates, if everything goes according to plan, that the district will get through the summer and take the fields offline in the beginning of the fall to encompass the "all-important spring growing season." All sports activity will be moved across the street to St. Paul's fields during this time.

The Village of Garden City will hire a crossing guard to safely walk children across Stewart Avenue. "We recognize there are safety issues in crossing our kids to the fields at St. Paul's, which is why we'll make sure we have appropriate staffing for crossing guards," Monaghan assured.

One parent suggested seeding half the field so children could at least have use of the other half during gym period. "It just seems risky to have a [crossing] guard there all day," she said. Monaghan said it is the district's preference to seed all at once but the board will consider her suggestion.

Resident Maureen Cornacchia added, "If someone's not reliable, I'd be nervous they wouldn't show up. I would be more comfortable if an employee of the school was crossing our kids."

The property, which includes a triangular tag piece on the south side of the railroad tracks along Cherry Valley Avenue, was appraised in 2002 for $4.9 million. After negotiations, the Cathedral and the district agreed upon the current sale price of $4.2 million. "This is a great price and a great opportunity and we hope the community sees it that way."

If residents don't approve the purchase, Powell said the best use of the Cathedral-owned property is residential homes. "You can fit 18 homes on that parcel of land," he said. "If you look at the homes that are on the three adjacent roads to the west/south of Stewart Avenue, they are averaging about $1.8 million," Powell said.

Powell said the sale is greatly needed for physical education, sporting events and leisure. "There aren't many open spaces throughout Long Island, especially here in Garden City. Hopefully we will have a successful vote May 16," he added.