Cawley Stadium has historical and community importance to the residents of Lowell. Built in 1937, with seating capacity of 6,000, and having played host to thousands of games and events over the decades, the outdoor facility has seen better days.
Now, that’s about to change…The Lowell Sun reported:
A partnership between the city of Lowell, Lowell Public Schools and a nonprofit has sourced more than $8 million to complete the long-overdue work of renovating and building out the complex located at 424 Douglas Road in Belvidere.
The scope of work, compiled by SOCOTEC AE Consulting, includes redoing Carvalho Field, building an athletic training facility and expanding the track lanes based on a feasibility study.
“This is obviously a very exciting time,” City Manager Tom Golden told the City Council during its Feb. 6 meeting. “A lot of hard work has been happening over at Cawley Stadium … to bring it back to where it should be.”
Overall, from fiscal 2024 to 2026, the city’s capital planning budget has allocated $8 million to the project. The figure tracks with the findings of a 2022 report by the Weymouth-based engineering firm Gale, which estimated $7.4 million in repairs to address interior and exterior concerns.
In addition to $2 million from the city’s capital plan, the funding includes $3 million from U.S. Rep Lori Trahan to assist with the renovation of the concrete grandstands, a new training facility with locker rooms, weight room, trainer’s room, bathrooms and a new concession stand.
Lowell Public Schools, whose sports teams will utilize the outdoor spaces for training and meets, chipped in another $1.1 million in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds.
And the State House fiscal 2023 budget earmarked $2 million in funding.
“Right now, we are looking to redo Carvalho Field, which is the multipurpose turf field, also known as the soccer field,” Golden said.
Barring unforeseen weather-related delays, the field should open by late August, in time for the start of the new school year, said Matt LeLacheur, chair of the Lowell Athletic and Activities Foundation that Golden said has been “one of the driving forces behind this.”
The nonprofit was formed almost three years ago to address the stadium’s deficiencies as well as come up with a long-range vision of what Cawley Stadium and the entire Martin Complex could look like going forward.
Besides LeLacheur, other board members included Brian Chapman, Noelle Creegan, Marisol Nobrega, Christopher Dick and Karoline Zacharer.
“This is a complete redo of the Carvalho Field adding a much, much needed turf field for the athletes — not just for the high school, but for all of Lowell and for all of the different youth athletic programs,” LeLacheur told the City Council Finance Subcommittee that met on Feb. 21 to review the informational report presented to the council earlier that month.
“That was a major focus of the school administration and the athletic department that puts us on par with many, many schools,” LeLacheur said. “We are one of the only schools that does not have a second turf field that allows our (junior varsity) freshmen and other sports to play. This solves that problem.”
The estimated cost of the turf project is $2.9 million.
Phase 2 in the rehabilitation of the 68-acre Martin Athletic Complex involves construction of a permanent 5,000- to 6,000-square-foot athletic training center.
The building is intended to be used by Lowell Public Schools students and coaching staff as a weight room, locker rooms, coaches/meeting room, concession stand and bathroom facility. Bids went out last March, and the estimated construction costs for the building project is estimated at $4,322,000.
Another part of the feasibility study was to explore installing two new 200-meter sprint lanes to the existing track. The cost estimate for construction for the two new track lanes is almost $1 million.
LeLacheur said building out the track to host 200-meter events would put Lowell on the athletic map.
“That would allow Lowell to be one of the only tracks in the entire state and New England of hosting for (Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association) and other events,” he said.
Councilors were uniformly enthusiastic about the phased renovation and rebuilding project.
LeLacheur called the project “a very high standard for the kids,” which would build on the city’s already successful track program.
“This is a great step for the kids of Lowell,” he said.