The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
New $65K state-of-the-art scoreboard to debut Wednesday
‘Shunpike Showdown’ will be occasion
CROMWELL — Wednesday’s big game being played out on a big stage will mark a coming-out party of sorts for the town’s new high-end scoreboard.
The multi-use scoreboard was given a practice try out during the Cromwell-Portland Panthers’ second home game last month. But officials are hoping the scoreboard will really show its stuff during Wednesday evening’s “Shunpike Showdown” between the Panthers and the Rocky Hill Terriers.
“It’s all set and ready to go,” Director of Public Works Louis J. Spina said Monday. During the first try-out of the new scoreboard, “There were overwhelmingly favorable comments,” he said.
The scoreboard was also put to use during the annual Halloween Trick or Trunk event, Town Manager Anthony J. Salvatore said, and will be employed during the town’s annual Christmas-time celebration.
The scoreboard has a number of different options, Salvatore said, including displaying videos and showing movies. It is the town’s intention to have movie nights during the summer, he added.
The journey that led to the new scoreboard was long and meandering. “Two or three years ago,” Michael Conant, maintenance supervisor for the Parks Maintenance Department, came to Spina and told him the existing scoreboard “was becoming old and obsolete,” he said.
In the mark-up for the 2018-19 budget, Salvatore initially penciled in a $40,000 to $45,000 request for money from the capital nonrecurring fund to be used to upgrade the existing scoreboard. However, before moving ahead, “We had some additional questions,” he said, including “Could it be rejuvenated?” and even if it could, “Was it worth it?”
“At that time, the scoreboard was still working, and so we held off a while, because we had a number of questions that were still remaining,” Salvatore said. “But then, during the summer Mike (Conant), came back and told us he had found it wasn’t working.”
Officials searched “far and wide” to find pieces to make repairs to the scoreboard, Spina said. But given the age of the display, “We found it was going to be a monumental task to even get the parts, and then to get it fixed,” Spina said during a three-way conversation with Salvatore and Mayor Enzo Faienza in the manager’s office last week.
In the meantime, Brian Dufresne, a member of the Panthers’ booster club, undertook a survey of the types of scoreboards used elsewhere in Connecticut and portions of New York state.
At the same time, Conant was working on a similar study of options for a new scoreboard. The town assembled three proposals and presented them first to Faienza, who, in turn, presented it to the Town Council. The panel approved the middle option unanimously, Salvatore said.
“It’s a brand-new LED scoreboard with an 8-foot-by-16-foot monitor built in, so it can do a number of assorted things,” the manager said.
The Board of Finance approved the $65,000 request and the town used the state bid pricing option to choose a contractor to install the scoreboard, Spina said. It selected Sports Construction of Plainville, which used an engineering firm from Massachusetts to erect the scoreboard, Salvatore said.
The cost is being split with the Board of Education. Along the way, “there are the usual unexpected delays you get with almost any project,” he added.
But that gave the town the opportunity make additional upgrades to the infrastructure at Pierson Park, Salvatore said.
“Building maintenance cleaned out the press box and repainted the interior,” he said.
The crew also installed a new asphalt pad and new bleachers as part of enhancements made on the visitors’ side of the field, Spina said.
The booster club, meanwhile, stepped in and provided $7,000 for enhancements to the acoustical system at the site, Salvatore said. “We’re very pleased at both how the scoreboard looks and how it’s worked so far,” he said.
“The council overwhelmingly supported this proposal by a unanimous vote. It’s part of a larger concept of being able to do things for the residents to enjoy, whether it’s this or movie nights,” or other forms of entertainment, Faienza said.
“I’m excited and happy to be able to be a part of bringing this kind of feature to our residents,” he said.