Construction to begin at Cardinal Stadium bleachers

GREENWICH — The old bleachers at Greenwich High’s Cardinal Stadium will be demolished and replaced after the Board of Estimate and Taxation voted to release the funds Monday evening for the capital project.

There was no debate and no opposition as the BET approved releasing $ 1.9 million to begin construction on the bleachers at Cardinal Stadium at GHS. The BET also released $400,000 to draw up more design plans for a new municipal ice rink.

The town had budgeted the money for the projects, but BET authorization was required to make certain specific progress had been made.

There was no need for presentations; the BET’s Budget Committee had heard from the Board of Education, Department of Public Works and Parks and Recreation last week on both projects. The committee recommended authorizing the funds and the full board complied.

The BET last month released $ 2.7 million for the bleacher project. The combined $4.6 million will fund Phase 1A of the multipart project. In Phase 1A, new bleachers will be installed on the home side of the field along with a

new press box with an elevator, a new team room under the bleachers, new bathrooms and other improvements.

It will also pay for the demolition of the existing bleachers, which project architect Russ Davidson said will occur in November or December, with installation of the new bleachers to follow. The aging bleachers now in place were shored up after they were closed for months in 2019 due to their rundown condition.

Work on the team room and press box in the phase is slated for spring and/or summer. The final schedule is not set yet because the project could not be put out to bid until the BET released the funds.

Land use approvals have been secured for the site plan for installation of the new fabricated bleachers.

Additional approvals are needed for Phase 1B, which will include adding more handicap parking spaces, a new entry kiosk and new lights on the existing poles.

Phase 2, which would include a new access road linking the stadium to the Post Road, needs separate budget approvals in the future.

For the new ice rink, construction is still years in the future. But Monday’s approval of releasing the $400,000 will allow the project to begin to take shape in terms of its design.

Before Monday’s meeting, town Superintendent of Buildings and Maintenance Alan Monelli told Greenwich Time that once the BET authorized spending the money, the town would within two weeks issue an award letter to the architect who won the bidding process. He estimated the contract could be finalized in the next month and the architect could then begin work.

The architect will complete the 30 percent of the design plans that are required to seek land use approvals from the town Planning and Zoning Commission and other land use agencies. If the project remains on schedule, Monelli said, the town would likely seek land use approvals for the rink project starting in May 2021.

Budget Committee Chair Leslie Tarkington said the feasibility study on the new rink, which is posted online at www.greenwichct.gov under the BET section, satisfied the condition.

The new rink, which will replace the 50-year-old Dorothy Hamill Rink, is in the planning phases and construction would be funded in a future year.

“New construction offers us the advantages of bringing the building to code and the replacement of aging mechanicals,” Tarkington said. “We can bring the rink size to regulation standards.”

The town has not set a price tag on the ice rink project, but some estimates have been as high as $17 million.

Talks are ongoing about the possibility of forming a public/ private partnership for the project.