Izzy Appelt, News Editor
@izzyacourant
Over the past four years, the New Canaan Athletic Foundation has actively fundraised for the proposed construction of new athletic facilities, including the revamping of the Dunning entrance and press box, a new baseball stadium, Saxe turf installments, and an indoor court facility.
The master plan that includes these improvements has been in motion for almost six years, following the previous project focused on the high school turf fields. “In 2017, after the installation of Water Tower fields two and three, the Athletic foundation established a master plan for expanding the facilities here at New Canaan that has grown since,” Chairman and co-founder of the New Canaan Athletic Foundation Mike Benevento said.
Plans of renovation are beginning to come to life as the Dunning renovation could begin as early as next summer, with successful levels of fundraising following the Athletic Foundations annual benefit. “We definitely are putting shovels in the ground next summer. We hope to call the beginning of the elevation of Dunning right after graduation ” Mr. Benevento said.
According to Jay Egan, NCHS athletic director, the proposed Dunning renovation would include a new press box, concession stand, bathrooms and storage on both sides of the field, as well as a donor wall to recognize major contributors to the fundraising of this project. This first major renovation of Dunning will provide benefits for the school outside of just athletics. “The current proposed plan includes an upgrade for the press box bringing in all kinds of media in, and will especially benefit NCTV and streaming,” Mr. Egan said. “The concession stand would also be rebuilt more towards the midfield, opening up both ways and acting as a more community based space, much like dining at Mead Park”
Also included in the Athletic Foundation’s current project are early preliminary plans for a new baseball stadium and indoor sports facility. “The plan is to build a varsity baseball stadium with a turf field and hopefully lit with lights on the existing Compo field, next to the Lapham Center, where the JV currently plays,” Mr. Benevento said. “The next part, which we recently announced as another expansion to the master plan, is a multi purpose indoor facility primarily focused on basketball, built on the backside of the Dunning scoreboard.”
Varsity baseball Coach Anthony Bloss is hopeful for the impact a new baseball stadium could have for the town’s baseball community. “It’d be a huge benefit to our program especially as a high quality attraction for the youth programs,” Coach Bloss said. “We have a lot of kids playing youth baseball, but having a nice facility for those younger kids will keep them playing through the highschool level.”
As baseball currently plays at Mead Park, the possibility of a high-quality facility here at the high school would be benificial and more efficent for the program. “It’d be nice for the program to have a facility that matches or is close to the quality of some of the other FCIAC fields,” Coach Bloss said. “The benefits of having a nice facility on campus for baseball, where we potentially have dugouts and stadium seating, like Darien, Staples, or Ridgefield does would be huge.”
For high school Varsity Basketball Coach Danny Melzer, the newly proposed facility will offer an expansion to the current youth and high school programs. “Having another basketball facility will impact the youth programs dramatically, getting them involved at a younger age,” Coach Melzer said. “ The more kids that are playing basketball and the longer they’re playing, and the more they’re learning, the more prepared they’re gonna be for playing at the high school level.”
According to Coach Melzer, throughout our community, there has been a struggle for gym space between winter sports, which forces programs to rely heavily on limited school space. “Every other high school basketball program, FCIAC and maybe even in the state, has access to opportunities for kids to work on their game and play pick up. Right now, we don’t have that ability, only being able to use the school gyms,” Coach Melzer said. “Having another basketball facility will give us the opportunity to expand our programs and get the kids playing more often.”
The Athletic Foundation plans to continue fundraising for the building of these facilities through online donations, pledges, and well-attended events and fundraisers. “There are a number of ways to give. As part of our mission statement, the foundation works with the town to upgrade our facilities to be the best in the state on behalf of every sports.” Mr Benevento said. “Our work is a reflection of our great school system, which continues to be a reason for growth in the New Canaan Community.”
