Snag to delay stadium opening

The story of the rehab of the fields and track at the Frank Fitzgerald Athletic Complex is one of good news and bad news. The good news is the field at Ken Strong Stadium will be laid and in playable condition by Sept. 14, the night the Westies have their home opener vs. Jonathan Law of Milford.

The bad news, however, is the Elliott Marnell Track rehab won’t be ready, and insurance and legal considerations have pushed the opening of the complex for games back to October.

The field is not the problem, officials said. The track being an unanticipated hazard is.

“The field will be ready,” said Building Committee Chairman Ken Carney this week. “The fact the track is ripped up means there is a risk factor we are not willing to take.”

Carney said the idea of a bridge over the track was considered to make the stadium grandstand accessible, but that was nixed when other factors came into consideration. Should someone get hurt on the track bed, which is now ground down to its base, the school system could be liable. That was something that played heavily in the decision.

According to Carney, the original idea was for the track to be done after the season, during the winter and into the early spring before the start of the spring season, when the track would be needed. However, other things came into play, including costs.

“Field Turf said there might be price increases or other costs involved if we waited. We’re trying to keep the costs to the agreed price, and so we determined it was better to get the entire project done all at once,” he said.

Since the decision was made, Co-Athletic Directors Joe Morrell and Mike Anquillare have scrambled to adjust home and away dates, find new fields for home games, and make timing and other logistical arrangements.

West Haven’s first few home games in football were moved to Veterans Field on Bull Hill Lane, where Notre Dame also plays its home games. It is also the home of the West Haven Seahawks of the Ray Tellier Midget Football League. That may have been the easiest fix.

Football sub-varsity games had to be moved and girls’ and boys’ soccer games are being moved to other fields or home games are being swapped. Football sub-varsity games, normally played at the home of the opponent if the varsity game is played at a school’s field, have been moved to the opponent’s venue.

Soccer games are a different story. Morrell and Anquillare are scheduling games to fields in town, and juggling schedules if there are two games scheduled for a single date. It’s not been easy.

“We will do what we have to do,” said Morrell. “It’s all part of the job.”

Besides venue changes, there are notifications that must be made to officiating groups as well as police, fire and EMT services.

The decision to rehabilitate the complex, originally opened in 1989, came when American Rescue Plan Act funds were earmarked for the project, which had been originally planned as a bond issue. The turf replacement will be the fourth such field on the site, which must be replaced about every decade.

Carney noted the field was 12 years old, and in need of replacement, while the track had been virtually untouched for a longer period, with only cosmetic changes. Two lanes are unusable.

In the process of determining to fix the track, the decision was made to convert the Frank Biondi Softball Field to an artificial surface as well. Originally planned for the winter into early next year, this has been moved up so the entire complex will be done in the current year.

Biondi, which was built on a tract between the Whitey Piurek Baseball Field and Ken Strong Stadium, is subject to drainage problems. The new surface and drainage work will make the field playable after heavy rains, drying in a short period of time. The field is not only home to the West Haven Blue Devils softball team but has been a favored spot by the Southern Connecticut Conference for its league playoffs, as well as a venue for the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference’s softball tournament.

The entire project is tagged at a cost of $2,560,650, with $1,609,500 marked for the football field carpet and track, and $919,000 for the softball field.

Though fans might be disappointed at the inability to use the Fitzgerald Complex for part of the fall season, Carney believes once the project is completed, the fans will be happy with the result.