Fairbanks Field Receives Historic Upgrade

Details

Created on Monday, 20 September 2021 00:30

Written by Nick Fish

ST. JOHNSBURY - St. Johnsbury Academy has a new field of dreams. September 10th marked the first time since 1949 the hilltoppers played under the lights at home.

In 1949 the hilltoppers played a game under the lights at Hazen field, now the location of the Comfort Inn in St. Johnsbury. In the night game in 1949 the hilltoppers won that game 6-0 over Newport High.

This time student athletes will be competing on a new artificial turf field which was recently finished at the site of the Academy's existing Fairbanks field. "The community is going to be able to come out on Friday nights and other evenings, I think it's just going to be a fantastic meeting place." Says St. Johnsbury Academy athletic director John Lenzini.

With the new turf and field lights, Fairbanks field will transform into a multi use facility and will be the new home for soccer, field hockey, lacrosse, and ultimate frisbee. It will also allow teams the ability to hold practice later in the evenings during the week. Lenzini says, "they're excited to be out there on that field, those student athletes that will be playing out here. But, they're also going to be excited to get in the stands during evening games." This means Friday night has become the new night for home football games.

The new field was made possible through ongoing fundraising and donations by community members. "We've started fundraising for the turf field, so this is the early stages of trying to increase some of our athletic upgrades." Said St. Johnsbury Academy Assistant Head of Advancement, Tammi Cady. The field will not only be used by academy student athletes but will also be used by members of the St. Johnsbury community. Cady Says, "our community, our rec department, our youth programs, a lot of community events happen here, so the turf field will be accessible to a lot of people."

St. Johnsbury Academy will be holding an official ribbon cutting ceremony during halftime of the 116th edition of the game on saturday october 23rd.