By Brittany Burke

The new CCSU baseball and softball fields being utilized this season were just the tip of the iceberg of what is to come over the next two years as the CCSU athletic fields go through a complete renovation.

There is still work to be done on the fields before they can be considered 100 percent completed, but that hasn’t stopped the plans for a new soccer field, track and football/lacrosse field to be set into motion.

“The first three legs of this project; this major project that they are working on has baseball, softball and the recreational field well under way that we’re looking at as we enter the fall. That recreation location will be completed, both baseball and softball will be online 100 percent and we’re in the process right now of working on the football/lacrosse stadium,” said Assistant Chief Administrator and Director of Facilities Management Sal Cintorino.

The new recreational field is adjacent to the baseball outfield and will serve as another space for non student athletes to go and play sports without interrupting CCSU athletics. The new renovations will equip the field with recreational lights and a sprinkler system which allows for actual sod. The perimeter of the baseball and softball fields is the final step in the process toward completion.

While phases one through three are in progress, facilities management staff plan to begin work on the soccer and football/lacrosse fields beginning this summer. The football field is going to be outsourced to DPW, allowing for the soccer fields, an internal project done by CCSU that has recently gotten approval, to be worked on simultaneously.

The renovations for the two fields are projected to take between 12 and 18 months and should be completely finished by 2012. The renovations include seating on both sides of the football/lacrosse field and a track around the soccer field, which the school hasn’t had since the 1980s.

“What we’ve done is actually baseball and softball has been moved closer to Route 9 so that we open that area in the middle up where there will be a track now that will go around the soccer field. The soccer field will also be an artificial surface and that’ll have lights on it as well,” Cintorino said. “So from a recreational stand point we’re really excited because both the football/lacrosse playing surface as well as the soccer playing surface will all have lighting and the ability for recreation.”

In addition to the seating, lights, turf and new track it is planned for there to be a new support facility  near the soccer field that will provide bathrooms for men and women as well as team rooms for half time.

The plans for the athletic field’s overhaul have been three years in the making, but there have been some restrictions, especially when it comes to budget. New construction is funded by student fees that every student pays with tuition that have been set aside specifically for this purpose over the past few years.

“To do the fields what we did – something we were trying to do for the students – we had student fees that had been set aside specifically for that and Dr. Miller directed us to make sure that we created a project that was going to be supportive of the needs of the students both from a recreational and athletic standpoint,” said Cintorino.

“[The funds are] dollars that have been set aside for this, and each one is broken up into a different piece of the puzzle.”

It is hoped that the new athletic fields will draw in current CCSU students and community members to the games, attract potential students for recruitment purposes and create first class facilities for the athletes to hone their skills.

“We hear all the time, ‘wow it’s a breath of fresh air to look out there and see a first class facility,’ and I think that’s what our commitment is from a university to do our best to be the best that we can be and to showcase our university. And I think that this is just another example of what we’re doing on campus to continue to move forward as a university,” Cintorino said.

The next two and a half years are going to be filled with construction, but the outcome will be beneficial for the entire CCSU community.