A new field. New tennis courts. Relocated light towers.
This is all part of Fairfield University improving its athletic facilities, due in part to a legal settlement with neighbors that was approved on Feb. 12.
The tennis courts will be moved to the front of the Walsh Athletic Center while the old courts will be removed in order accommodate plans for the new entrance.
A new soccer and lacrosse stadium will be added to the campus and University Field will be placed where the track field now exists. The field will have bleachers similar to those at Alumni Field and will be lighted. There will also be an extended track that surrounds the new field. The turf lacrosse field will no longer be used for games, only for practice. The lights will be taken down from the turf field and be moved over to the new University Field.
The lighting structures on the current turf field have caused disturbances with the neighbors who took the university to court over the lighting affecting their privacy.
“We have had problems with College Park before,” said Douglas Whiting, associate vice president for public affairs. “They beat us in court and restricted the use of the turf field to daylight hours because the lights were against zoning laws.”
At the February 12th hearing, the Fairfield town planning and zoning commission approved the university’s plan to add the new field and tennis courts. The residents of College Park, who were once again concerned about their own privacy, also approved of the new field.
“We worked out an agreement with the neighbors to accommodate the University and to respect their privacy,” said John Fallon, Fairfield University’s attorney.
Now both sides feel that the new field construction is a step in the right direction.
“We just ask the university to respect what it is like for private homes for families with young children, because of the effects of sound and light can have on our lives,” said Jim Deveau, a College Park resident. “The University has made strong and positive steps to being a good neighbor.”
With these changes to campus, some Fairfield teams will be affected. The men’s and woman’s lacrosse teams will have to adapt to playing on grass after playing on turf. The soccer team will also move onto the new University Field, and the football team will have will have sole use of Alumni Field.
But with the new field, woman’s head soccer coach Maria Piechocki believes there will be a positive outcome with the changes. “With the new stadium, I feel it will draw more people to our games, especially students,” she said.
The men’s and woman’s tennis team will also be moving onto the new courts in front of the Walsh Athletic Center. “I am really looking forward to playing on the new courts, but I will miss the attention of being in the middle of campus,” said Sean Tompkins ’03.
Fairfield Athletic Director, Gene Doris, was unavailable for comment due to a business trip to Denver. Construction on the new University Field and the new tennis courts began in February and is expected to be finished by early summer.
Leave a Reply