The final elements to complete the Strong Center project are back on track after the town struggled to secure a contractor to build the field houses on the complex. At the Board of Selectmen (BOS) meeting on April 24, the board awarded the $481,024 construction contract to Pat Munger Construction Co., Inc.

The center, which has been in the works for years, is designed to serve as a football field for high school and potentially college games, as well as soccer, lacrosse, and softball. It is also envisioned as a performance arts facility for music, theater, and dance.

Project construction was broken out into two phases. Phase I of the project included the replacement of the former grass football field with an artificial turf field and installation of the scoreboard, flagpoles, lighting, and bleachers with seating for 2,000. Phase II of the project includes a planned plaza and two field houses.

Phase II of the project was the source of the hold up. Back in 2016, the town secured a Small Town Economic Assistance Program (STEAP) grant for $500,000 to complete the field houses and went out to bid for a contractor. First Selectman Tom Banisch said previously said there was only one bid on the project and in March, the town decided the contractor could not complete the project.

With the money for the project coming in the form of a state grant, there are specific contractor requirements that must be met, according to Director of Engineering Services Mike Ott. In total, the field house project has gone through three rounds of bidding and was finally settled in this latest round of bids.

With Munger as the contractor, Duo Dickinson, a Strong Center Project Board member and the architect for the project, said the field houses can be completed as originally designed while staying on budget.

“If everything works it will be exactly what we drew and it will be ready for the first game,” he said.

The field houses and the entrance plaza are the last two elements of the whole project. At the BOS meeting, Dickinson said board members had received bids for the completion of the entrance plaza and he was optimistic that the plaza, too, could be completed as originally designed.

The entrance plaza will include a gate; three stone pillars for gold, silver, and bronze sponsor plaques; and 325 engraved granite plaza stones. Additionally the site will include several park benches, a Champions Walk from the home field house to the field, and a memorial garden.

Banisch thanked Dickinson, Ott, and all those who had been involved in the project. While Dickinson said he knows there have been some challenges with the project in the way, it will all be worth it in the end.

“According to Larry Ciotti, who I trust, [the center] will end up being the nicest town athletic facility in the state when it is all done,” he said.