Edwards Field – Brunswick ME

Description

“The development of the Edwards Athletic Fields has been one of the most popular projects undertaken in the town of Brunswick. Started a few weeks before the close of CWA, it is being carried to completion by the ERA.

The original area acquired by the town was a ten acre square including a large field and some woodland. While the field had been used for baseball, it was not level and there were no facilities for other sports.

With ERA labor the entire tract has been leveled, a baseball diamond and a football have been loamed and seeded. The turf will be ready for play in baseball season for 1936. Around the diamond a quarter mile cinder running track with a 220 yard straight-away has been laid out and is rapidly nearing completion. Relief labor has also been used in the construction of a modern field house with showers, toilets and locker rooms for two teams.

Approximately 7,000 cubic yards of gravel have been excavated and hauled to other parts of the field for fill. It was necessary to haul approximately 1,500 cubic yards from other locations. The greater part of this loam was taken from the tract being developed by ERA labor for a municipal airport, in this way supplying not only the needed loam but also leveling a part of the airport tract.

The use of relief labor on this project has brought to realization the hopes of Brunswick citizens for a modern plant for athletic contests. It would undoubtedly have been made years before the town could have developed this tract in any other way. By using the ERA relief funds for labor on this project, the town will enjoy the permanent benefits of the field.

The project has had the advantage of the expert supervision of John J. Magee, track coach at Bowdoin College and a member of the Olympic track coaching staff for several years.”

According to the town website, the field “located on Jordan Avenue, is one of the Department’s primary athletic field complexes. The fields are seasonally set up for baseball and softball (spring and early summer) and soccer (late summer and fall). A children’s playground, ¼-mile stone dust track and an outdoor basketball court are also located within this facility.”