Work will begin later this year on a new junior varsity and freshman baseball field behind Wayland Middle School, but the facility won’t be as large as originally hoped.

Wayland Schools Finance Director Bill Melching said that after taking bids for construction and renovations, he noticed they came in about $56,000 more than what had been budgeted. The lowest estimate was pegged at $315,768.

Part of the reason, Melching said, was that only two contractors bid and others are too busy with other larger projects.

“This is a pretty small project,” he said.

In order to offset the shortfall, Melching recommended to the board that the field be made smaller by shortening the left and right field fence from 285 to 275 feet and the center field fence from 325 to 315 feet. He assured the board the dimensions would be consistent with state guidelines for junior varsity baseball fields.

Then the finance director recommended the school postpone planned renovations for locker rooms at the high school until next year, thereby bringing the total cost to $294,838 out of the capital improvements budget for fiscal year 2015-16.

The project will include excavating, concrete, fencing, landscaping, drainage and sidewalks.

“The project will be done by next spring,” Melching said, “but the quality of the grass will depend on the weather.”

The field is necessary because federal Title IX laws insist boys’ and girls’ athletic programs have facilities that are comparable. Until next season, the boys have had only one baseball field suitable for varsity, junior varsity and freshman play.