Chet Nichols gets facelift New Lincoln AD focused on improving field
LINCOLN – One of the first things Greg O’Connor did when he became the Lincoln’s athletic director was conduct a walkthrough of all the facilities.
It didn’t take long for him to hone in on Chet Nichols Field and notice what many people in town have been bemoaning for years. Concern reached a boiling point last spring when several Lincoln baseball parents went before the School Committee and cited safety concerns.
By law, town funding is set up a little bit differently than school funding. Last week, the School Committee opted to tackle the issue head-on by unanimously approving $50,000 to perform a soup-to-nuts overhaul of Chet Nichols Field.
The process has already begun. Last weekend, the field was shut down for purposes related to slicing, seeding, and fertilizing. The junior varsity soccer programs had been using Chet Nichols Field for matches and practices. They’ve been rerouted with the understanding that haste makes waste when trying to dramatically improve a ballfield ahead of the winter months.
“We needed to get this done before the ground starts to freeze,” said O’Connor. “This is a time-sensitive issue.”
“We want that field up and running for the spring season,” said Kristine Donabedian, School Committee chairwoman. “We have to start now.”
The School Committee took two votes before giving the green light for work to be done. The first vote examined the improvements that the town wanted to make and at what cost. The second vote tackled where the spending money would come from.
The money used to pay for the field work is coming out of the school department’s accumulated surplus. Donabedian mentioned that a reimbursement will hopefully come at the May 2018 financial town meeting.
Chet Nichols Field does not reside on school grounds, though plenty of LHS student- athletes set foot on it throughout the course of a calendar year. Besides interscholastic soccer and baseball, Chet Nichols Field is also the summer home for American Legion baseball ( Upper Deck Post 86/14).
A collaborative effort involving the cooperation of town officials, school committee members and admin- istrators was needed before the project could commence. Everyone who got involved did so with the understanding that getting on the same page was paramount, given that the field conditions were continuing to deteriorate at a concerning rate.
“There were a number of meetings with the town and visits to the field,” said Donabedian.
“I’m really excited that we were able to get the support from so many groups to get this done,” said O’Connor.
Sports Turf Specialties, Inc. ( based in Wrentham, Mass.) was the group that presented a proposal to the School Committee. The company’s client roster includes handling the playing surfaces at Fenway Park, Yankee Stadium, and McCoy Stadium. The president/owner, Dennis Brolin, spent 12 years as head groundskeeper for the New England Patriots.
The laundry list of improvements to Chet Nichols Field includes working on the infield and home-plate area, rebuilding the mound, edging the base paths, and installing a sprinkler system that will address areas that desperately need water. In addition, a machine will be purchased to make sure the field is kept in tiptop shape.
“We’re basically doing a revamping of the whole field,” said O’Connor.
Coming from the college ranks – O’Connor previously served as the assistant athletic director for development and marketing at Rhode Island College before taking the Lincoln job over the summer – meant he understood the importance of first-class facilities.
“Our facilities at RIC were always important to us to the point where we made sure they always looked professional and top- notch,” said O’Connor. “When I came to Lincoln, that’s one of the first areas I wanted to improve.”
Through a combined effort, a much- needed revamping is being done to a field named after a Pawtucket native and former major-league pitcher.