emails about circus in other towns released to medial yesterday.

LACONIA — Before the Parks and Recreation Commission voted four to one Monday night against allowing the Kelly Miller Circus to perform at Opechee Park on July 2 and July 3 of next year, chair Jeff Pattison referred to a number of e-mails garnered during his department's research and he made them available to The Daily Sun yesterday.

The department solicited information from a variety of stakeholders, including local sports agencies who depend on the athletic fields for their sporting events and a number of other communities that have hosted Kelly Miller circuses.

While none of the hosts of the circus had downright negative things to say, most did express some level of apprehension about the fields after the circus departed.

A Middle School Principal from Downer's Grove, Ill. told Any Lovesick that "It is a wonderful show."

"...They leave things in remarkable good shape....However, if your field is freshly sodded, I would be very careful. the circus drives every truck on to the field. The elephants and camels etc. walk around quite a bit. If the sod is the east bit soft they could make a real mess..."

Director Kate Hodges of the Littleton, Mass. parks division said the "field was not terrible" after the departure of the circus. "They did leave some ruts and deeper tire marks that needed to be raked, graded and seeded... All in all it was OK and cost only a little bit for seed and labor. . ."

In 2008, the Enterprise, a local newspaper serving Abington, Mass. said heavy rains "drenched" the field and when the truck left after the circus ended, they left ruts that Coles Brothers Circus agreed to repair.

Meredith Town Administrator Phil Warren was the Town Manager of Abington when the Coles Brothers circus came to town and he sent a e-mail to Kevin Dunleavy saying that during the Abington circus there was "unusually heavy rains" and there was some damage done by the heavy trailers to the irrigation system.

He said that while the Coles Brothers Circus settled with a repair amount with the down, the government of Abington decided not to allow other groups to use the football field for anything than its intended purpose.

Closer to home, locals involved with youth baseball like Bill Salta and Mary Nyhan agree that the Opechee fields are not the place to have the circus.

"The fields are finally looking great. I'd hate to see the literal circus coming to town be the ruin of the main field at Opechee..."

Nylan went on to say that she thought the parking lot at downtown would be the perfect spot, however when Jim Royal of the Kelly Miller Circus examined the area he said it was too small.

Deanna Guyer of the Youth Soccer League also agrees with Nylan and Salta. "I would prefer that the circus stay off of Opechee Park. I don't mind if 4th of July comes back but the size of the animals and the stuff they leave behind may kill the grass that took so long to grow there."

The third element of the package of e-mails and contacts revealed a brief run-down of other facilities within Laconia city boundaries where they may be room for a circus.

Dunleavy said Memorial Park is big enough and flat enough but does have some legitimate restrictions surrounding ample parking. He also said the displacement of activities there could cause overuse of other playing fields within the city.

Dunleavy said Leavitt Park has also just been re-sodded, much like Opechee, and objected to its use much for the same reasons as Opechee.

Dunleavy said other areas in or near the city could also be suitable for the circus, among them the Belknap County complex and the Belknap County Fair Ground in Belmont.

Vachon said they already examined the Belknap County Fair Grounds on Prescott Hill and the fields there not level enough.

As to the Belknap County Complex, County Administrator Debra Schackett said she is aware of their request and is having Maintenance Director Harold Powell prepare an evaluation of a number of the places on the grounds located off North Main Street.