>>>>>>>>>>> The Valley Patriot

>>>>>>>>>>> Paying Attention Index Page

Finally! Veterans Memorial
Stadium Will be Fixed

Tom Duggan

After years of neglect and decay the WWII Veterans Memorial Stadium in Lawrence is poised to be resurrected from the dead.

Mayor Michael Sullivan met with the Stadium Restoration Committee last week where he announced that he was about to pump 4.2 million dollars into renovating the Stadium. Sullivan said that the city was in talks with an architect and that the project could be under way within a matter of months.

Sullivan's funding plan is part of an 11 million dollar borrowing measure. The mayor said he will request the City Council approve the bonding plan within the month and does not expect any problems getting the support he needs. The $11 million will also fund the completion of city hall renovations as well as purchasing multiple DPW trucks and tractors.

Members of the City Council have unanimously voted in the past to support fixing the Stadium and making its' renovation one of their top priorities. Several City Councilors have shown an interest in the work being done by the committee. City Councilor Nunzio DiMarca is a member of the committee and At-Large Councilor Michael Sweeney was in on the ground floor of the committee's formation, but later resigned because of differences with committee members on the new High School construction project.

Upon hearing the news of the bonding plan, the Stadium Committee immediately rolled up their sleeves and began working on the specifics of the proposed renovations and site parking details.

"This is the jewel of the city," said Lee Balcom, president of the Stadium Restoration Committee. "It's about time we got rolling on this. The Stadium could be an endless source of free revenue for Lawrence, this is a big win for everyone especially the veterans."

The announcement by Sullivan came only two weeks after the committee took a vote of "no confidence" in the Planning and Development department for dragging their feet in finding an architect to start the project.

"What we wanted to do was make sure all the funding was available before we spent any money on an architect," Planning and Development Director, Tom Galligani told the group. "Now that the mayor has decided to bond this project we can begin the process almost immediately."

The relationship between the Stadium Committee and the mayor grew contentious last year when Sullivan disbanded the committee, saying that some members were trying to stop the high school construction project and "making wild accusations" against him.

Sullivan appeared on the Paying Attention! radio program the following week to announce that he was reestablishing the committee and that the disbanding of the committee was a "misunderstanding."

Sullivan also announced that he is restructuring the city's bond debt at a lower interest rate, which would net Lawrence more than 2 million dollars in savings. "Think of it the way you re-finance your mortgage on your house. Some of the bonds we are carrying right now can be refinanced at a lower interest rate and when we are done restructuring those, there will be a savings of two million dollars," Sullivan said.

When asked by committee members if the extra 2 million would be earmarked particularly for the stadium, the mayor said that the $4.2 million "should be enough to complete the entire project" but that the extra $2 million would be available in case there were cost overruns.

President Lee Balcom said that large stadiums being demolished in other parts of the country might be a good source for seating in Lawrence if they can get the owners to donate seating before such stadiums are destroyed.

For the past 20 years, candidates for mayor and city council have promised the people of Lawrence that the renovation of the stadium would be their top priority, if elected. In that time no mayor has even come up with a working plan to fix the structure, which was originally dedicated as a memorial to World War I Veterans and later re-dedicated to the Veterans of World War II.

Sullivan credited the committee for their unrelenting dedication and hard work on the preservation of the memorial and promised to continue working with them as the first leg of the renovation process gets underway.