ANSONIA – The city will hold a ribbon cutting for the newly turfed Nolan Field at 6:45 p.m. Friday (Oct. 3), following an $8 million renovation approved by voters in 2023.

The Ansonia Chargers will take on the Torrington Raiders in their first home football game on the new field. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

The grand opening had originally been scheduled for Sept. 19. However, city officials pushed the date back to Oct. 3, citing ongoing construction.

How We Got Here

Ansonia elected officials have talked about a need to upgrade Nolan Field for years.

In 2023, voters approved up to $10.2 million in borrowing to pay for turf and facility improvements at Nolan Field, as well as improvements to other city fields.

Following that vote, members of the school building commission and the Board of Aldermen held meetings to decide what improvements they were looking for. Those meetings picked up steam toward the end of last year, when members of both boards met together to talk funding.

The project went out to bid in March this year. The Aldermen ultimately ended up approving an $7,989,680 plan from Georgia-based FieldTurf to renovate Nolan Field and its amenities.

FieldTurf’s bid was the highest out of ten firms that submitted bids. However, it also went beyond the bid specs – including renovations that the city originally planned to go back out to bid for at a later date.

FieldTurf’s improvements include the installation of turf for the football field, turf for two baseball fields and a soccer field, an additional grass baseball field, three concrete tennis courts, new dugouts, and a new surface for the basketball court.

Some improvements – such as a walkway to be installed between the football and soccer fields, restroom renovations, and dugout improvements – won’t be done by the Oct. 3 grand opening, according to Ansonia Chief Operating Officer Joseph Jaumann.

Jaumann said those improvements are scheduled to take place throughout the football season and be done by the spring sports season. He said the project is still on-budget as of Oct. 2.

The Board of Aldermen recently formed a new parks and recreation board to create a set of policies for the new Nolan Field. That commission held its first meeting Sept. 23.

In meetings after the 2023 referendum, city officials also discussed possible improvements to three other parks and fields: Abe Stone Park at Colony Pond, Nelligan Field, and the Ansonia Nature Center.

The city has not yet decided how it will use the remaining referendum-approved borrowing to improve those fields, according to Ansonia Corporation Counsel John Marini. However, Marini said dirt removed from Nolan Field has been moved to those parks for potential future use in renovations.

Marini said the other park improvements will likely be put out to bid once the Nolan Field renovations are complete.