The quest to expand and reconfigure Derby’s athletic fields is getting a $2 million boost thanks to a business leader with family roots in the city.
With a $2 million donation confirmed Thursday, there is now about $5 million available for the project. That includes state funds of $2.9 million, though school officials said the donor’s money is separate from the state money.
The new money will allow Derby to raze and reconstruct its field house, a project that was dropped from the initial plans due to a funding shortage. The money will also go toward a new baseball field.
About The Donor
The $2 million donation is coming from Joan Payden, the founder, president, and CEO of Payden & Rygel, an investment firm based in Los Angeles that manages more than $106 billion in assets.
Payden’s father, Joseph R. Payden, was born in Derby in 1896. He was Derby High School’s valedictorian in 1915, and a scholarship at the school is awarded every year in his honor.
Joan Payden’s mother, Molly Reynolds, grew up in Shelton. Before starting a family she worked at Yale University and was a guidance counselor for the New York City school system.
After graduating from Derby High in 1915, Joseph Payden attended Yale University — but he left for a spell to become a fighter pilot in World War I.
He eventually returned to his studies and later became the CEO of Union Carbide Java Ltd in Indonesia. The family spent years living in Jakarta before moving to New York City.
Joan Payden’s brother Bill, by the way, had a long career in journalism and public relations before becoming a college professor. He passed away in 2013.
The Paydens have a long history of philanthropy, including a $10 million donation for a building at Trinity Washington University in Washington, D.C.
“Derby is where my heritage begins. I’m happy to give back to the high school my father so enjoyed,” Joan Payden said in a prepared statement issued by the school district Thursday.
The Donation
According to Derby Public Schools Superintendent Matthew Conway, Joan Payden called Derby High School about two weeks ago and talked to school principal Martin Pascale.
She was apparently looking for a way to do some good in her father’s hometown. Pascale mentioned the ongoing effort to get a new track, artificial field and field house at the Leo F. Ryan Athletic Complex off Chatfied Street.
The school had initially applied to the state for a $5 million grant to make the project happen. However, the school was only able to get $2.9 million, which forced the roughly $1 million field house to be dropped from the plan.
Also dropped from the initial budget — some $800,000 in contingency funds connected to the field house construction. Contingency funds are included in construction projects so there’s money for any unexpected cost overruns.
The field house in Derby has a bunch of uses, including equipment storage, bathrooms, and a locker room area. A section is also used as a concession stand, and there’s a small kitchen.
Pascale put Payden in touch with Conway, who explained the budget constraints and sent Payden additional info.
The school district received word last Wednesday that Payden wanted to give $2 million.
“We were obviously very excited at the news,” Conway told the Valley Indy.
The school district’s announcement is embedded below. The article continues after the document.
Derby Donation by The Valley Indy on Scribd
Next Steps
There are two committees in Derby working on the field improvements.
There’s an athletic complex oversight committee (not its formal title), who are now choosing project managers and architects.
There is also a baseball field relocation committee.
That group is trying to figure out where to put the Derby High School baseball field. The field is currently next to the football field at the Ryan Sports Complex — but the baseball field has to move to make room for the new turf field, running track and field house.
The committee wants to move the field to Witek Park, currently home to two soccer fields. The plan hasn’t been formally endorsed, but it calls for reconfiguring the two soccer fields at Witek Park to make room for the baseball field.
That plan is not perfect, because, ideally, the high school baseball field should be close to Derby High School. In addition, Derby Youth Soccer, the organization that uses Witek Park the most, has expressed concerns that the program will get the short end of the stick in this process.
The new, $2 million infusion could cause the baseball relocation committee to take another look at the Little League/Pop Warner space on the top of Nutmeg Avenue as an option for the Derby High School baseball field.
Pat Sheridan, a vice president with Derby Little League, said his organization will do whatever is necessary to help the greater good in Derby.
“By the end of the week I guess we’ll learn a lot more, but as far as Little League is concerned, we’ll do whatever they want us to do. Whatever works best for the whole group,” Sheridan said.
The baseball field relocation committee is scheduled to meet 6 p.m. Thursday in Derby City Hall to be brought up to date on the latest news. Click here for an agenda.
Reaction
There was hesitation among Derby officials this week to comment at length on the matter prior it to being announced formally. Officials said they wanted to hear more at Thursday’s committee meeting.
Derby Mayor Anita Dugatto and Carmen DiCenso, president of the Derby Board of Aldermen, both praised Conway and Pascale, the high school principal, for their efforts to snag more money for the project.
“There’s good energy in Derby. We’re long overdue for good energy, and it’s here,” Dugatto said.
“This could be a great thing for the city and the high school,” DiCenso said.
Jack Walsh, a member of the baseball field relocation committee, said he’s looking forward to learning more about the donation.
“This is really an incredible story, and it couldn’t come at a better time,” Walsh said.
Walsh is a former chairman of the city’s recreation committee.
“Let me tell you, that field house has been an albatross for parks and rec,” he said. “When I was chairman, if we could have knocked it down, we would have. It’s not in good shape. It’s a money pit, it’s expensive to maintain, and it is not a good facility.”
How bad?
Walsh said the building was plagued by an odor problem at one point.
“There was a period when visiting teams would refuse to go into the field house,” Walsh said. “That was awhile ago, but it was bad.”
