FRYEBURG — The Home of the Raiders sports complex will look quite different this coming fall.

Fryeburg Academy’s Board of Trustees recently voted to move forward with an exciting plan to install synthetic turf and lights at the school’s current football field location. This new complex will create a lasting, permanent, multi-sport use addition to the Academy campus. 

Last fall, the school retained Activitas, Inc., a Boston-area firm specializing in planning, landscape architecture, civil engineering, and athletic facility planning, to consult on project design and related considerations.

The plan’s initial phase includes:

• An infilled synthetic turf field suitable for soccer, football, boys’ lacrosse, girls’ lacrosse, and field hockey.

• Seating for 600 spectators.

• A new press box.

• Sports lighting, a new scoreboard, and a sound system.

• Various parking improvements.

“The project will benefit male and female athletes equally and allow teams to utilize an outdoor field much earlier in the spring,” FA officials said. “Not only will the upgraded facility provide practice and competition surfaces on par with those of conference competitors, but it will also expand scheduling possibilities for FA teams and allow use by middle school and local recreation programs, facilitating a unified K-12 extracurricular program.”

The Academy also plans to generate revenue through use for regional athletic events and rental by sports clinics, and summer camps. 

FA’s head of school Erin Mayo stated, “We’re very excited. With so many benefits, this will be a wonderful stride for Academy athletics and the wider community alike. And there’s nothing like a home game under the lights!”

The school will fund this endeavor in part through FA Scores!, a $1.3 million capital campaign. In its initial phase, the campaign has already secured approximately $800,000 in gifts and pledges; it will seek the remaining $500,000 from project supporters in the months to come. 

Construction will begin this spring with a planned mid-August completion date.