WASHBURN — A concerted effort among school, town and local club officials may be the answer to construction of two multipurpose athletic fields to accommodate soccer, softball and Little League programs.

A Land and Water Conservation Fund grant application for $13,642 was submitted to the Maine Department of Conservation Friday and would help complete the $54,569 project next summer.

The grant would provide 25 percent of the funding, to be added to donations of $10,000 from the Washburn Rotary Club, $2,500 from the Washburn Athletic Booster Club and $2,519 from the town’s general fund, according to Gene Conlogue, town manager.

The town’s portion would require appropriation approval at the March town meeting, and has been endorsed by the Washburn Town Council, said Conlogue.

The remainder of the projected funding would be contributed by the school and town. The school would provide custodial labor, estimated at $5,000, to seed and maintain the field. The town would cover major construction work, estimated at $22,000, said Conlogue.

The fields are on the site of the former elementary school.

The project area is less than a 10th of a mile from Main Street and is located along the main access street to the Washburn Elementary School. A large paved parking lot immediately adjoins both proposed fields, according to David Lyon, superintendent.

The town does not currently have adequate fields for its softball or Little League programs. The land where the fields are currently located are privately owned, and continued right to use them is in doubt due to a recent tax lien dispute. If the fields were lost, no Little League or softball programs would be possible, according to the application proposal.

The high school is also seeking softball fields that are properly designed and maintained for the safety of its teams. The construction of new fields would ensure a safe, well-maintained facility, and continue the cooperation and nonduplication of projects between the town and school system, according to Lyon.

The field would benefit the residents of other members towns of SAD 42, Perham and Wade. The school has two soccer fields, only one of which can be used for games. The second field is poor due to drainage and topography. If funded, the school will have two operating soccer fields that will allow for easier scheduling of girls and boys games in the fall, said Lyon.

The project will provide better storm drainage off the grounds and alleviate some water runoff problems for abutting landowners, while making the playing surfaces of both fields safe, according to Lyon.