These are the plans for a new practice facility for Bihsop Guertin athletics at 40 Groton Road in Nashua, including three turf fields, a track and six tennis courts. (Courtesy photo)

NASHUA – It’s late March and the practice schedule can get confusing for a lot of high school teams – especially at Bishop Guertin.

Where is varsity lacrosse practicing? Stellos Stadium? Hudson’s Presentation of Mary? Or 20 minutes to a half hour away in Bedford? Nearby Rivier University? Indoors? Outdoors?

Softball and baseball are basically stuck indoors, unless they can get a day at Stellos.

And where is the next Cardinals outdoor track meet? Nashua North? South?

If all works out, that confusion will disappear for the fall and spring field hockey, lacrosse, outdoor track and soccer teams. Oh, and tennis matches won’t take three hours any longer, either, as they pretty much do now with just three courts availabe on site for six singles and three doubles matches per overall match.

Why? Because Guertin last September purchased a 40 acre parcel of land at 40 Groton Road in Nashua, just along the Massachusetts border, for, according to school officials, approximately $1.9 million. The land, which has been used as a construction materials site for Brox Industries, will be used for the area’s latest new athletic complex: three rectangular turfed fields , a running track, plus six tennis courts, Guertin hired former athletic director and football coach, as well as alum, Tony Johnson as the lead consultant and fundraiser on the project. Johnson and school officials feel it will take upwards of $40 million to get it done, but alum Brendan Keegan – who was on the 1987 BG state champion baseball team — has donated $1.5 million already to get the project underway and the facility will likely bear his family’s name. Keegan built one of the largest fleet companies in North America in Hooksett and is still a part owner while now also working in the private equity business world.

The hope, according to Guertin principal Jason Strniste and school president Linda Brodeur, is to break ground late this summer. If that happens, Guertin officials feel if all the stars align the project can possibly be completed by fall of 2024.

“This property will become our primary site for practices and sub varsity games,” Strniste said. “Seating and parking will be designed for these purposes. … It certainly addresses the growing need we have for practice space. This brings everything into one consistent location.”

While the plan is to have lights at the fields, Guertin school officials will not create any type of stadium structure and plan to continue to play the majority of their varsity soccer, field hockey, lacrosse and football games at Stellos Stadium, where they have for the last two-plus decades.

“We’ve recently renewed our long-term Stellos agreement (with the city of Nashua) and look forward to continuing our partnership with the city to utilize Stellos and Holman Stadium for varsity events,” Strniste said. “The Elliott Field complex at the school will remain available as well. But with this project, we should be able to reduce some of the overuse of these new fields.”

Because, as Brodeur said, now the Cards have to “rely on the generosity of others” to get field space and often they’re not on high school fields. “This way the fields will be high school ready, they’ll be supervised, safe – and it’s theirs. We’re really grateful for all those who make space for us. But it’s not ours.”

Elliott Field, a grass complex behind the school, has been the site of numerous varsity and sub-varsity practices (mainly soccer; lacrosse usually searches for field turfed facilities), sub varsity games, plus there is a baseball and a softball field there. At times during the fall, Guertin has had to play an occasional varsity soccer game at Elliott if Nashua North or South had Stellos booked.

“A state of the art facility that just makes the whole program better,” Guertin athletic director Ryan Brown said.

“But the Tuesday afternoon game that can’t be played at Stellos could be played there, that is absolutely part of the conversation.”

When the plans were being formulated, Brown wanted a few things: One was flexibility in the field layout so they could be used for different ways.

“It’s a ton of space, we can get a ton of kids out there playing,” Brown said. “I can get field hockey and soccer out there all at the same time. Lacrosse in the spring, and even baseball and softball.”

There’s more. Guertin officials say they will be completing a trail on the property that will link Groton Road, walking trails beetween the Rail Trail and Yudickey Farm, and the Dunstable Rural Land Trust, as well as creating public parking. At the field themselves, there is a plan for parking for about 240 spaces, plus a medical shed for the athletic trainers, equipment area, etc.

Another factor in the project is that with the removal of the tennis courts at the school, Guertin plans to build a performing arts building in that space to support and house what officials say is a growing music program.

“This project in my opinion, this thing is a project that could last 100 years,” Johnson said. “It’ll benefit the kids’ kids’ kids. It’s going to last that long.

“Think about it, how can you play a tennis match for three hours? And we’ve never had a track. We used to go over to Alvirne; maybe a couple of days a week at Fairgrounds (Middle School) and possibly one day at one of the Nashua tracks. We could get on a track two or three days a week. But it was crazy.

“But now we have the opportunity to actually have a track. But you couldn’t build a track at Elliott Field. It’s just too big. … Elliott Field is fine, but we can finally give it a breather. We’re ripping this field up every single year. When I was there, we had seven lacrosse teams, and had to find space for them all.”

And, as Strniste said, “There are times with Elliott field when teams have to share space. Softball sometimes has to wait to go out there. This addresses all of those issues.”

Also, Strniste said, the facility would be a spot for “other organizations to use” at some point, whether on a rental basis or otherwise.

“There’s always a tight tight need for field space, and this would be a space available for those opportunities,” Strniste said. “We may partner with community organizations, we may have organizations that rent from us, those are all things that would be worked out.”

But, as all involved said, that is not the primiary reason for the project.

As for not creating a stadium, Johnson’s thinking is the same as Guertin officials. Stellos is perfect, so there’s no reason to mess with success.

“Don’t need it,” he said. “And you always have neighborhood issues.”

Johnson recalled when Guertin’s previous athletic project, the Roedel Field House addition onto the building, was approved by the city, it was because the neighbors were told there woul be no games played there. It would just be for practices, which has been its use.

“There wouldn’t be 500 cars coming down the streets on a Friday night, and everybody was happy with that,” Johnson said. “In this case, there will be tennis matches, but tennis matches is only going to draw 50 or 60 people (at most).”

Strniste did say that in a pinch there could be an occasional varsity game (not likely for football). “Any varsity game that now gets moved to the school, might have an opportunity to use those fields instead,” he said.

“I think where it’s located, (a stadium) would be a hard thing to do,” Johnson said. “And the other thing people don’t realize, Stellos is a college complex. You’re not going to find too many stadiums besides Bill Ball Stadium (in Exeter) and Stellos. … The city of Nashua, they did, when they built Stellos (in 2001), they did it right. The city of Nashua really did a great job. And that’s a complex that will be around for the next 50, 60, 70 years if they keep it up.”

As Strniste said, “The site lends itself better to this kind of use. They’re already building a middle school up the road, and there’s traffic concerns there. When you think of what it looks like at Stellos when a Friday or Saturday night football game lets out, there’s nowhere to put that many cars (at the possible site) at once.

“And this will take some burden off (of the other schools) that practice at Stellos, because we won’t be looking to practice at that facility.”

As for the lights, Strniste said the trees surrounding the facility plus the technology now available for lighting will minimize any impact on the surrounding area/neighbors.

One thing Brown also wanted was lighting in order to give the practice time flexibility, extending the possibilities with so many different teams.

“And it opens up some opportunities for the community,” Brown said. “Late in the fall and early in the spring you’re always fighting that battle with daylight.”

Brown said that he made it known a track had to be included. “I said we need to make sure we do that, it’ll be huge for our track program. It’s just a challenge, they’re all over the place, here, there … They don’t have as solid a home base as our other programs, this will solve that problem. We won’t have much seating but maybe smaller meets we can host.”

As the primary fundraiser, Johnson didn’t have a figure for what is needed to be raised in order to break ground, but that Keegan’s donation “gets us off the ground, it generates a lot of interest and generates a lot of momentum.”

Strniste said he hopes the school can begin work at the site in the fall, and “meaningful construction” to the site in the spring and summer a year from now, and in the year 2024 we’d be able to use those fields. … But somewhere in the two to three year time.”

The factors are many, obviously. But Guertin has seemingly found an answer to a long-term problem.

“It’s a great site,” Johnson said. “A phenomenal site. … You still have to clear out a good chunk. But the land in itself is great. … It’s going to be used by the masses of the school. Forty acres is a lot of room. I’m not sure how much is buildable, but there’s enough room for three fields, etc.”

Johnson, who built a football dynasty at BG before leaving for Worcester Academy in 2010 and later Bishop Brady, had retired from Brady a couple of years ago but found he needed a project to keep busy. This was it.

“I still have a passion for the school,” he said. “We’ve been successful athletically and academically, but I always felt if we had fields we could practice on, how good could this program be?”

“It’s like bringing in Tom Brady,” Keegan said of Johnson’s involvement. “There’s no one better.”

And as Johnson and Strniste said, this isn’t the school’s first attempt. Guertin tried to purchase the same property a decade ago but for one reason or another, school officials said, it couldn’t be completed.

Johnson, when he was the AD, said there were parcels of land in Merrimack and Hollis that were targeted, but at least in one case an abutter “held it up.” And the search has been ongoing ever since.

Former Bishop Guertin football coach and athletic director Tony Johnson is the chief consultant/fundraiser for the Cards’ move to build a new practice field complex in Nashua. (Courtesy photo)

The other thing that will be needed to work out is transportation – student athletes will need to be shuttled back and forth. “It’s going to be worked out team by team,” Strniste said was the plan. “The thing to understand now is a lot of our sub varsity teams hop in a car at the end of the day, they drive over to Back River in Bedford, to PMA, to Mines Falls, etc.,

“They’re already traveling,” Strniste said. “But this will get them off the highway, a much safter and quicker transition.”

Strniste said that besides a trainer’s area, there is also a plan for a maintenance shed/garage and that someone would be there to maintain the facility full time. That would likely include plowing the fields at the end of the winter – as the city does with Stellos – to clear them for spring practices.

Late former BG board member Gerry Prunier was instrumental in helping with the details of the purchase, and Strniste said there is an alumni base that have shown interest in the project. The question is what will it take to keep the timetable where it’s at?

“That’s a great question,” Johnson said. “I’ve been out on the road, everyone’s enthusiastic. I have a three-year commitment to the school. I know the people.I’ve been associated with the school for 25 years.”

Keegan, Johnson said, “stepped to the plate. He’s the lead guy on this and we’re off to the races.”

“We met with Linda in October or November,” Keegan said. “We wanted to kick the project off. BG for the last 10-15 years has tried to service the students with better fields, but it never came to fruition. As soon as they bought (the land) Linda called me in.

“With any campaign, when you get that kickoff/lead done, it says that this is going to happen.”

“Let’s get the money together,” Brown said, “and get a shovel in the ground. This just shows a huge commitment for our athletic program and our kids. Couldn’t be more happy. Our kids are going to feel this. This is going to be huge for us.”