The Butler Area School District will sell the downtown athletic field to the Grace Youth and Family Foundation for $50,000 following a vote by the school board Monday.

District Superintendent Brian White said the field — which has been owned by the district for decades — has not been in regular use for a while, but it requires a lot of maintenance.

“We don't use this field for varsity athletics anymore,” White said. “For the school district, it's an ongoing maintenance issue. There is also a bridge there that is hard to maintain.”

The field is accessed by crossing a metal bridge over the Connoquenessing Creek near South Cliff and East Cunningham streets.

White said the field had been privately appraised at $30,000.

White also said the Community Development Corporation performed an environmental study on the field that determined it is a flood plain.

The proposal from the Grace Youth and Family Foundation was the only one received by the district.

White said the money will likely be put in the district's capital fund.

Bill Halle, founder of Grace Youth and Family Foundation and a member of the Butler school board, said the organization has plans for the field that could make up for the lost green space in the school district.

Halle abstained from the vote.

“When we consolidated the school district, the kids lost a lost of green space,” Halle said. “There is a long list of things we're excited to do.”