Alumni Field meeting elicits plenty of community ideas

What will be the ultimate fate of Alumni Memorial Field? Right now, there are more questions than answers.

by Marsha Chartrand

It’s been the site of the Manchester Community Fair for 77 years; the Manchester Chicken Broil for 69. It currently welcomes little ones for youth soccer on the weekends. According to legend, the location hosted Bob Seger long before he led the Silver Bullet Band. A lot has happened at Alumni Memorial Field over the years.

And over the past five years in particular, as school use of the property located between Duncan and Vernon Streets has waned to zero, there have been several discussions about what might happen there in the future. On Thursday, November 17, a gathering of more than 50 stakeholders and interested community members shared opinions and memories, talked about the ongoing costs, and some even dreamed a bit about potential uses that could benefit the schools and the community.

After a brief presentation by Dr. Brad Bezeau, superintendent, attendees broke into small groups for a short brainstorming session so a wide variety of ideas could be heard. Among those ideas were, “no development — keep it available to the community and schools,“ “invest in it to increase usage,“ “enhance as a village park with more landscaping and beautification; add appealing amenities such as a splash pad,“ “alternate use for sports teams (i.e., equestrian) that currently do not have a home,“ and the advice, “Once you get rid of it, you can’t get it back.“

Bezeau confirmed that although the school has not made a plan to sell the property, there has been some interest in doing so, since the district has been maintaining the fields despite lack of school usage. He said it is in the process of being assessed for taxable value only, not for sales value at this time. But the topic is not off the table, as there were several members of the audience talking about the possibility.

Jeff Mann, Chicken Broil chair, spoke on behalf of the Broil. He reminded the audience that the original purpose of the Chicken Broil was to put a fence around the Alumni Memorial Field property back in 1954, and that over the years the Broil had invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in Village Parks, the school Athletic Complex on Dutch Drive, as well as the library and various other community needs. He said that it had been discussed whether the Broil could relocate and concluded, “We could move somewhere else, but would it be feasible? There is a lot of infrastructure on that property that doesn’t exist anywhere else, that assists with the Broil. It might be possible, but it wouldn’t be simple.“

Carol Britten, who has served on the Fair Board for decades, also spoke about the fair’s need for a location with appropriate infrastructure (which has been established and added to for many years at Alumni Field) and pointed out the convenience of the field’s location to the downtown area. “We have a lot of workers at the carnival who return each year,” she says. “They appreciate that the town is small and easily walkable for them, as often they don’t have vehicles of their own. They like coming to Manchester and the carnival definitely keeps our fair going.“

Manchester Township Supervisor Ron Milkey summed up the need for grass-roots volunteerism at all levels if the community is truly interested in keeping things at a level close to the status quo. “Everyone needs to get involved,” he said. “All of the townships. A true community effort is needed. Volunteerism is a key to shared management of the Alumni Field and growing its usage.“

Bezeau wrapped up the meeting and encouraged those in attendance to continue talking, asking questions, and trying to form volunteer coalitions to make the future of Alumni Field as bright as it has been in the past.

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by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.