By Marianne Sullivan, Source Senior Staff Writer:
A group of committed individuals has stepped forward to propose a privately funded $3.4 million renovation of the town-owned Strong Field into a top class athletic stadium and performance arts venue.
“We have a vision that will transform Strong Field into the best facility of its kind in New England,” former Daniel Hand High School football coach Larry Ciotti told the Board of Selectmen recently. “We know the town is in no position to fund this” but the group Ciotti and others have pulled together “will do this–we are very excited.”
The group believes the present “set of problems and potentials have created a unique opportunity at Strong Field at the Surf Club.” The lighted field has been used for decades as the traditional home field for Hand football and soccer. It is now in need of an upgrade, Ciotti contended.
Architect Duo Dickinson, a member of the support group, sketched the proposals being brought forward. They include removing the present undersized field house, replacing it with two separate new buildings accommodating both home and way teams. The split buildings will also provide a new “gateway” into the stadium.
Formal walls stretching out from each building will create a focal point, channel crowds into the stadium in a more orderly fashion and provide much needed space for ticket sale windows, concession stands, and code-compliant bathrooms. The walls will also provide space for a Boys’ and Girls’ Hand Walk of Fame for all high school athletes, a permanent location for awards and trophies.
The proposal calls for a synthetic turf field where there is presently a grass field, new and better lighting, new stadium seating for handicapped accessibility, and easier access and egress and more of it.
The two new field houses will be designed to complement the existing structures at the Surf Club with white slate walls and shingle roofing. The two roofs will each be topped with a lighted cupola. The walls arching out from the two buildings to create the new gateway will be brick. The Walks of Fame will have protective gates to assure security.
The gateway will also feature three flagpoles for the town, state, and American flags.
Dickinson also said the playing field itself was inadequately sized for anything but football. A new design and new synthetic turf could change that. Rotating the field, he said, allows for greater use by more sports teams.
“And as co-founder of Madison Cultural Arts and someone who loves to play football, let me say this vision will transform Strong Field from a single-use sports venue into a full use arts and events venue,” he said, noting that it could be the future site for Shakespeare on the Shoreline and for major concerts.
The group has already been meeting with the Beach and Recreation Commission as well as town officials to secure their opinions and input.
“We are intent upon providing a first class facility that will enhance and expand the activities already there,” Ciotti said.
“We can do this. We are excited about it. Some of us have been discussing this for the last year or year and a half. The next step will be to fill the slots on our board of directors and then set some funding goals and levels. You’ll see us again,” he told the selectmen.