Historic Boyle Stadium

From the November 1942 Dedication Program:

HISTORY OF THE BOYLE STADIUM
BY GEORGE T. BARRETT

The Stamford High School Playfield, including the football field, the cinder track, the pole vaulting and jumping pits, etc., was conceived at the depth of the depression, by the Town Engineer, Mr. L. Bromfield, Jr., during the administration of the late Mr. John Hanrahan.

The entire project was planned and estimated by Mr. Bromfield and his staff and money was secured from the United States Government under a W.P.A. project for the carrying out of the work. Theoretically, the labor entailed was to be paid for by Government funds, as was the pay for the use of machinery on the project.

The materials were to be furnished by the Town of Stamford, and the work was to be performed under the supervision of W.P.A. foremen, leaving with the Town Officials the right to stop the project if they felt that it was not being properly constructed, or that it was not being efficiently carried out.

The East Side of the Stadium was partially completed on October 1, 1938, when Mr. George T. Barrett was elected First Selectman.

The baseball field had already been completed.

Under Mr. Barrett's administration, the W.P.A. plan was still carried out with some minor changes. The field itself was graded and seeded and the west stadium, with its heating plant, and locker rooms and showers, was also completed.

Plans had been made for a clam-shell band stand at the north end of the field, money was appropriated for the land but, differences of opinion and a few seemingly unimportant technicalities, have held up the purchase of the land between the present field and Holcomb Avenue. The delay has prevented the building of the band stand and extra bleachers because Government money is no longer available for the completion of the project.

The present wooden fence around the Stadium was put up in a hurry in order to control the gate receipts and assure a reasonable "take" at the gate of the different games. It resulted in a most successful season financially for the High School Football team. Later on, the fence around the playing field was erected before the well remembered Norwalk game, which taxed the field to its capacity and did away with encroachment of spectators upon the field. This has proven a constant benefit at all subsequent games.

The settling of the field has been a constant problem, due to the failure of the original builders of the field to excavate the old Betts Pond and to fill it with solid materials which would not settle.

In 1941, failing to get the necessary cooperation and the necessary funds to properly finish the field, Mr. Barrett, as the sponsor's agent, signed it over to the Board of Education, under whose control it has been since that date.

At that time, he had planned and drawn up specifications for the present metal fence which he turned over to the Board of Education. They have since had that fence erected. Today, although unfinished, this Stadium stands as a monument to the football players, the scholars, and the teachers of the Stamford High School-and particularly to their coaches, Mr. Kuczo and especially Mr. Boyle, whose thirty years record as a high school coach has never been equaled in the United States.

The approximate cost to the taxpayers of the Town of Stamford of all the work of the entire play area, including the baseball field, the football field, the cinder track and the cement stadium, has been 585,000—and the total cost of the Stadium, in round numbers, is approximately $400,000.

Good judgment and long-range planning demands the immediate purchase of the available land surrounding this Stadium. Failure to purchase this land is definitely a short-sighted, penny-wise pound-foolish policy.

George T. Barrett
First Selectman

 

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