By Richard Kaufman
Sentinel Reporter
Work to improve Cardinal Stadium at Greenwich High School is officially underway.
On Tuesday, crews began to demolish the home side bleachers as part of Phase 1A of the improvement project.
Phase 1A includes the construction of new home side bleachers that are ADA accessible with a press box, elevator, new bathrooms and a team room that will go below the bleachers. Phase 1B includes the addition of new lights on existing poles, handicap parking, and an entry kiosk. Work in this phase still needs to be approved.
The Board of Estimate and Taxation had released funds for Phase 1A in stages as conditions were met over the past few months: $4.6 million, $2.7 million, and $1.9 million.
The Cardinal Stadium improvement project has been a hot topic around town since 2017, when a feasibility committee was formed. Superintendent Dr. Toni Jones tweeted her excitement about the bleacher demolition on Tuesday.
Happy Dance! Old bleachers are coming down today. GPS is on our way to an updated Cardinal Stadium. #gpsct pic.twitter.com/8ByS68C2x6
— Dr. Toni Jones (@DrJones_GPS) December 8, 2020
Joe Kelly, a former rugby coach at GHS and now a member of the Board of Education, said the improvement is long overdue.
“The bleachers are over 50 years old, and it’s good to take them down. It’s just so great for the students, especially the ones now who have gone through so much trouble with their sports being delayed or canceled because of COVID. At least now we can promise some of the younger kids a state of the art, modern stadium for them to be performing their games in the very near future. It’s very exciting to finally get this project moved forward,” Kelly said.
As a former coach, Kelly said it was difficult traveling to other schools and seeing their updated facilities and stadiums. Now, it’s the Cardinals’ time to show off a bit.
“We’re excited we can now present ourselves in a proud way when it comes to teams visiting us here,” Kelly said. “Our players, the coaches and our programs are top notch, and now our stadium will be top notch as well.”
Kelly said the visiting bleachers will remain untouched while work continues on the home side, so the stadium can continue to be used. The goal is to have the new bleachers in place to accommodate graduation in spring 2021. Phase 1B, Kelly said, is expected to catch up to 1A at some point by the end of the school year.
