Boyle Stadium – Stamford CT

Description

The history of Boyle Stadium, which is located behind Stamford High School, is detailed on the school’s website:
“Beginning in 1935, federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) funds helped support the construction behind Stamford High of the [premier] high school stadium in Connecticut. The stadium was completed over several years and, like today, was the site of athletic competitions and graduation ceremonies. It was named the Michael A. Boyle Stadium in 1942, after SHS'[s] famous athletic director and football coach. In the 1940s, Boyle Stadium was the training field for students preparing for military service in World War II.”

“The first baseball game was played on its field in 1937 and the first football game and graduation ceremony took place in 1938.”

“Plans for the stadium were first developed in 1933, during the Depression. The project was planned by Town Engineer Llewellyn Bromfield Jr. during the administration of First Selectman John Hanrahan. The architect was Alfonse Vacca. Work began in 1935 under the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) to build the stadium on the site of Bett’s Pond and surrounding swampland. The entire project took several years to complete. The original layout included regulation football and baseball fields, an oval quarter-mile running track with a 220-yard straight-away, pole vaulting and jumping pits, and two stone and concrete stands that resemble an ancient Greek terraced-style stadium, but with Baroque-accented parapets atop the stone walls. One of the significant elements of the stadium is the superior workmanship by local masons of the polygonal-cut, rock-faced granite construction. Seating capacity was listed at the time as 5,924. The cost of the original construction was $400,000, $85,000 of which came from local taxpayers. Plans for a clam-shell bandstand at the north end had to be shelved when federal funding for WPA projects ran out.”

“Today, the stadium is the site of SHS and regional athletic and marching band competitions, as well as very special SHS graduation ceremonies.”