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04/16/2024 03:30 PMNORTH HAVEN
The North Haven Public Works Department is continuing to complete and reveal new improvements to its multiple athletic facilities, including those that will make up a broad, refashioned recreational campus in the area of North Haven’s middle and high schools.
Most of the work marks further progress on a $3.5 million capital bonding package for which the town was approved by the North Haven Board of Education (BOE) on June 6, 2022 to bolster its athletic facilities. The improvements authorized to take shape were at Brozek Softball Field, DeMayo Baseball Field, the JV fields that sit north of the town’s athletic complex, and two turf fields at the middle school. Upon completion, they will be part of a large, interconnected athletic campus that would ultimately include DeMayo Park for the baseball and softball fields, tennis, and an all-purpose field; along with Valley Brook Field, Vanacore Track and Football Field, the turf fields, and a concession stand.
In March, the two turf fields at middle and high school campus received their 1,060-seat grandstand constructed by vendor Dant Clayton at an amount of $573,200 under the BOE bonding package. Lynn Sadosky, director of North Haven Public Works, described the grandstand, which sits to the right of the parking lot adjacent to the turf fields, as a “giant” and “beautiful” structure.
“You can’t miss it. It’s bigger than [the grandstand at] Vanacore,” said Sadosky.
The completion of the grandstand has fully outfitted the turf fields to be their own self-sustaining complex where large sports events can be held, featuring chain-link fencing and a press box with internet and electrical connection for sound.
“What the Board of Ed Athletics wanted to do was have a complex that was enclosed with fencing, so that they could have CIAC [Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference] championships on those fields,” said Sadosky. “If you and I were going to a game, we'd have to pay to get in, so that you can generate some funding to pay for the maintenance and the whole complex.”
As far as internet connection is concerned, Sadosky said that “when the budget permits, it is the town and BOE’s goal to connect the campus, including the turf fields, to Wi-Fi,” but she added that, “...we aren’t there yet,” stating, “We currently do not have a budget for it this year.”
The Brozek Softball and DeMayo Baseball fields are “fully under construction” to receive a new infield mix, a turf foundation, and an irrigation system, said Sadosky. The work, which was put out to bond at $2,391,000, is being handled by vendor Derita and Sons Construction Company and will begin around the early part of summer, running until the end of the season.
Meanwhile, new upgrades will come in the form of four, 40-foot-long precast concrete dugouts, with two per field. Derita and Sons will “start to put inside the dugouts seating, a place to put your bats, a place to put your helmets, a cleat cleaner, so you're not tracking the clay into the dugouts,” said Sadosky.
“We’ll be working on those when they start rolling the field out closer and closer [to completion],” she added.
After completion of the fields, the vendor will turn supervision of the complex over to the town in September, and testing of the irrigation and new system will be performed before use of the fields is permissible.
“Once we accept that area, it won’t be put in the play schedule because it's gonna need a period of time that things need to grow and adjust in the field itself,” said Sadosky. “We want to make sure that the grass grows correctly. Just because you buy sod doesn't mean it's going to live. You have to make sure it's wet enough.”
Derita and Sons will be responsible for the integrity of their work for a year following completion. Around spring 2025, they will give the town the green light on their use per a good evaluation of the new conditions, said Sadosky.
The town has recently seen new improvements at Brozek and DeMayo and is eying other improvements which are all part of a capital bonding package approved by town residents at the Annual Town Meeting on Sept. 18, 2023.
New improvements include upgraded “state-of-the-art” lighting at Brozek and DeMayo fields, which was completed on Feb. 26 at a cost of $398,864. What makes the lighting “state-of the-art” is that the lights are part of a remote-controlled system with time settings that is connected to the all-purpose field adjacent to Brozek. The system is also more economical given the type kind of lighting and its longevity, with less need for manual replacement.
“It allows us to have lower electric costs because it’s LED,” said Sadosky. “The LEDs are going to allow us to save money on maintenance—light changing—because the LEDs last 10, 15 times longer than a regular bulb. It saves us money on staff time. We wouldn't normally have to go out and do this manually. We can do everything with a controller. It’s a big step up for us, and it’s a long time coming.”
Memorial Field will also receive new LED lighting, with work looking to be completed by the end of April at a cost of $30,000, said Sadosky. The lighting will have a similar system to Brozek and DeMayo as bulb replacement is its sole improvement.
Another baseball field being considered for improvements is Bailey Road Field. To fix its current “state of disrepair,” said Sadosky, the town secured a $250,000 Urban Act grant through the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Sadosky said that “roughly $222,000” remains following initial design work by Weston & Sampson, and construction will begin once play can resume at Brozek and DeMayo fields next year. She said that leftover soil of good quality from the Brozek and DeMayo project may be used as part of the Bailey construction, but added that “we just don't know yet until that contract is done.”
Some improvements have already been brought to fruition thanks to a $45,000 grant through the Local Capital Improvement Program to replace the field’s dilapidated backstop and fencing, for which work was completed on March 8.
Aside from town fields, the Walter Gawrych Community Pool is due for a roof replacement at a cost of $545,000 through a contract with Connecticut Roofcrafters. The project is expected to start around the beginning of July and conclude by October.
Sadosky said the costs for the replacement are associated with “double insulation” for new panels, the welding and possible replacement of its support purlins, and a new paint job.
Once a color is decided upon, the town wants to see it matching with the roof of the North Haven Memorial Library, which needs a new paint job and has small repairs to be addressed.
Even when the project begins, the pool will remain open to the public as an open-air facility and will close for around a month once “the cranes are here” to replace the roof, said Sadosky.