E.O. Smith Breaks Ground on New Athletic Complex

Armed with shiny silver shovels and white hard hats, Superintendent of Schools Bruce Silva, along with school and town leaders broke ground on ’s $2.1 million Athletic Facilities Renovations and Improvements Project on Monday.

The new track and field complex will open in September, renovating the school’s on-site athletic track, inner game field and exterior tennis and basketball courts.

“Not only are we starting on time, but we’ve been able to make tremendous progress on enhancing our plans too,” said Silva in a statement released by the school. “For instance, we were able to get an interpretation of the soccer rules from the Assistant Director of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) to allow us to build the field and install the boundary lines maximizing the width of the field for soccer use. Our soccer coaches and players are really excited by the extra field width.”

The school’s six-lane running track will be replaced with a standard eight-lane track, so that the Panthers may begin hosting meets, saving the school $7,500 per year from renting other facilities.

A synthetic multi-purpose field within the track and the resurfacing of existing tennis courts are expected to enhance student health and safety during physical education classes, and may even improve athletic performance according to one student-athlete.

“I’m so looking forward to not having to compensate for ‘crack’ shots next year,” said sophomore Laura Chrobak, a member of the Girls Varsity Tennis team, referring to the redirected balls when they hit crevices in the current court’s surface.

The project was approved by a referendum vote in Ashford, Mansfield and Willington on Sept. 28, 2010.