New College/Community Sports Complex for Hoffman Park

07 Jun 2007

by: John D'Antonio (518) 434-5669

Albany Mayor Gerald D. Jennings and Saint Rose President Dr. R. Mark Sullivan today announced a new public-private partnership that will provide a first-class facility for the College’s outdoor athletic programs and endow Albany with top-notch fields for community use.

Pending final approval by the Albany Common Council and by the College’s Board of Trustees, The College of Saint Rose will enter into a 30-year lease for a substantially unused portion of Albany’s Hoffman Park for $1 per year. The College intends to develop new natural grass baseball and softball fields, a synthetic turf multipurpose field for soccer and a natural turf practice soccer field. When completed, the complex will meet all NCAA specifications and will become the home of the outstanding Golden Knights baseball, softball and soccer teams and several of the College’s recreational and intramural sports programs. The fields also will be available to the community for summer recreational leagues, high school games, charity games and summer sports camps. In addition, the College will explore starting an NCAA Division II men’s and women’s lacrosse program.

Mayor Jennings said: “This is a grand slam all around. Thanks to the outstanding partnership between my administration and Saint Rose, the citizens of Albany will have a grade-A facility for summer games and sports camps, the Golden Knights athletic teams will have a place to call ‘home’ and the new facilities will provide a welcoming entrance into the city at the high-traffic access point off the Thruway and I-787. You could not ask for a finer example of town-gown relations at their best and one that speaks directly to our neighborhood revitalization plans.”

President Sullivan said: “Part of our mission as an engaged urban campus is neighborhood revitalization. Thanks to Mayor Jennings’ dynamic and visionary leadership and the support of many city officials including Councilman Dominick Calsolaro, we can put our mission into action and turn Hoffman Park into a jewel that will be enjoyed by our outstanding athletes, our students who participate in intramurals, and by the citizens of Albany. We look forward to the day when a Golden Knights home game is truly at home at Hoffman Park.”

Under the proposed 30-year lease, the College will develop and improve the part of Hoffman Park that is bounded by McCarty and Frisbee avenues. Saint Rose will phase construction of the athletic fields over an estimated three-to-four year period, beginning with the baseball field in 2007 or 2008. Saint Rose will maintain all of the park improvements and provide security during games and team practices. The city will continue to hold title to the park land and will own all of the improvements made by Saint Rose.

Total cost of the basic construction of all four fields is estimated at about $2.5 million. Future plans include installation of new lighting, a new concession building, and parking for more than 100 vehicles. The improvements will be financed through the College’s capital budgets and will involve significant fund-raising efforts.

Fundraising for the baseball field was jump-started at the College’s May 2006 commencement, when commencement speaker Joseph J. Plumeri, chairman and chief executive officer of the Willis Group Holdings Ltd., announced that he will donate $100,000 to spur development of a new baseball field to be named in honor of the late, beloved Saint Rose baseball coach and Albany High teacher Bob Bellizzi.

Under the terms of the proposed agreement, Saint Rose will make the fields available to community groups and schools when they are not in use by the College’s teams. Details of the shared use continue to be worked out by the city and the College.

For years, Saint Rose has sought a central location near its campus for its outdoor athletic programs. The lack of a home field has forced the College to lease playing facilities at a variety of locations often miles from the campus, which greatly limits consistent fan attendance and student recreational programming and creates logistical difficulties for the College’s teams and their visiting opponents. For example, the baseball team now plays some of its games at Bleeker Stadium in Albany and Shuttleworth Park in Amsterdam, the softball team uses Esposito Park in Rotterdam, while the men’s and women’s soccer teams score goals on the fields at the Albany Academy. Upon completion of the new Hoffman Park complex, all four teams will play their home games within 10 minutes of the Pine Hills campus. While the new fields are being developed, the College will look to continue to schedule athletic contests at the above locations.