Elms College President Dr. Jim Mullen, Director of Athletics Louise McCleary, Elms College Board of Trustees Chairman Russell Omer and members of the engineering and construction firms during official groundbreaking ceremonies held on Friday, May 25, 2007.

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Elms College building 2 new athletic fields
Posted by The Republican Newsroom
June 04, 2007
By HOLLY ANGELO

CHICOPEE - Elms College has begun construction on a $1.71 million project that will add two new athletic fields to its Springfield Street campus.

The field expansion includes the installation of a new 72- by 120-yard multi-use artificial surface field that will replace the smaller 65- by 110-yard soccer field, and a new softball field that is compliant with National Collegiate Athletic Association guidelines.

"For us, it's huge," said Chris M. Lockwood, media relations coordinator at Elms, today.

"In order to have competitive teams you want good fields to practice on. It's also to recruit players. We want to be competitive."

Athletic participation at the Catholic college has increased dramatically in the past five years, from 130 student participants to 200 currently. There are now 15 varsity teams.

"We've had quite a bit of growth," Director of Athletics Louise T. McCleary said. "These new athletic fields will allow us to continue to grow."

The fields border Donlyn Drive and Roosevelt Avenue. The artificial multi-use field will include lights, which will allow for night games. The field will be used for practices and games for soccer, field hockey, lacrosse, and early spring practices for softball and baseball. Physical education classes and intramural programs will also take place on the field.

"More and more New England schools are putting in artificial fields," McCleary said.

The new softball field will be longer and include covered dugouts and a batting cage. It will also face northeast, which will cut down on sun glare. The new dugout and outfield dimensions will make it an NCAA regulation field.

McCleary said over the past five years the college has increased student athletic participation, the number of full-time coaches and the number of varsity sports. Now, it's time to improve the fields.

"It's one of the biggest projects the campus has undertaken in the last three or four years," she said. "We don't ever want to lose an Elms College student because of our fields."

Fontaine Brothers of Springfield is overseeing construction of the fields, while Coler & Colantonio of Holyoke is the engineer. The fields should be completed in mid-August.

The college has raised about $1 million from gifts and pledges to pay for the project. That fund-raising will continue until the $1.71 million is raised, said Maryanne Rooney, vice president of institutional advancement.

"It's a great project to involve an awful lot of people," Rooney said.