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07-26-09
Mt. Vernon, NY
Historic Memorial field will soon be leveled;
City Council retains company to commence
design of new field
The Mount Vernon City Council has agreed to
retain the services of a design firm by the name
of Woodard and Curran to commence designing the
new Memorial Field. The cost to design the new
field will be in the neighborhood of $878,000,
but will be paid for entirely by Westchester
County.
Unfortunately, Memorial Field is a rare
surviving example of a historic municipal
stadium in the Hudson Valley region and the only
one of its kind still intact in Westchester
County, but needs to be razed due to its
antiquated and appalling condition.
Believe it or not, Memorial Field is the kind of place
that the so-called "retro ballparks" of the
1990s copied their basic designs from.
Regrettably, the stadium never received its due
attention, both in terms of its history and
architecture, and in its needs of maintenance
and upkeep throughout the years.
Memorial Field consists of one brick and limestone
grandstand building running on a north-south
axis parallel to garden Avenue. The facade is
punctuated by a series of twelve Romanesque
arches flanking either side of the main
entrance. Along the lower level below the
bleachers are restrooms and the building's power
plant. Unfortunately it seems that the City of
Mount Vernon never cared to, or simply did not
have the funds to properly maintain and use this
building. The main entrance doors are boarded up
and access to that area is prohibited, as is the
section immediately below the main entrance.
The spacious 3,900 "seat" bleacher-style grandstand
overlooks twelve acres of playing fields and a
running track, with a large adjacent tennis
court. The Mount Vernon High School football
team calls Memorial Field home, and in addition,
the site has, over the last seven decades,
hosted semi-pro football, baseball, soccer,
community events, and reportedly even a Jackson
Five concert. A ticket booth greets "customers"
at the corner of Garden Avenue and Sanford
Boulevard, and a concessions stand is located
just inside the entrance. Another building,
likely the visiting team's dressing room /
restroom, stands at the southeast corner of the
field.
With its towering red brick columns and columned
grandstand, Memorial Field resembles the
sentimental new ball parks that have charmed
fans and critics in Baltimore, Arlington, Tex.
and Cleveland.
But unlike Baltimore's Camden Yards and its
architectural cousins, the 6,000-seat stadium on
this city's south side doesn't just look old, it
is, and it is showing its age badly.
The stadium was built in 1930, and presently it is a
picture of decay. Throughout the years, weeds
and dust have choked the playing field, but that
has been remedied in recent years. Paint flakes
from the green railings in the concrete stands
on the home team's side. The bleachers on the
visitors side have been condemned.
Many Mount Vernonites fear a county-run Memorial Field,
thinking that they will be excluded, along with
many events that currently take place there now.
Nevertheless, Westchester officials have assured
Mount Vernon that Mount Vernon community events
would have priority in scheduling.
At the start of this new year, the Board of Legislators
approved a $1.3 million bond act for the
design of a a modernized Memorial Field.
Much credit must go to County Legislator Lyndon
Williams and County
Executive Andy
Spano, who initially presented the project idea
to the entire Board of Legislators. It is is
estimated that the project will cost $12.7
million, but the county has agreed to reimburse
the city up to $9.7 million for the design and
construction costs.
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