Last 'Thanksgiving game' on Madison field

MADISON, Conn. (WTNH) -- Out with the old and in with the new; Hand High School in Madison played their last 'Thanksgiving game' at Strong Field Wednesday night.   

After next week's playoff game, construction crews will get busy tearing down the bleachers and ripping up the field to make room for a new and improved facility for the state's number one ranked team.    

They are the number one football team in the state, but the Daniel Hand High School football team in Madison plays on a field that's not exactly as good.

"It's hard to grow grass, especially in a seaside environment, the grass deteriorates and it becomes unsafe," said Larry Ciotti, former coach.

Ciotti was the first football coach at Daniel Hand, he now coaches at Yale, but he still goes to the games. His grandson's now playing and he's been a driving force behind fixing Strong field. Wednesday night, a flag was raised between two backhoes waiting on the sidelines to start construction.

"Many, many people have come forward and gave money, but in particular, their support, their time, a lot of volunteer activities," Ciotti said.

Architect Duo Dickinson is working pro bono, he's designed the new state of the art field. It will be a synthetic grass surface.

"We're also creating two field houses where we have one and the two field houses will have little halls of fame in them for both the boys and girls sports that happen here," Dickinson said. "We'll also have handicapped-accessible bathrooms and we're doubling the size of the stands from 1,000 to 2,000."

And it's not just for football. Soccer, lacrosse and field hockey will play there as well, and it goes beyond sports. The artificial turf means a stage can be put up.

"It would be a wonderful thing to sit and watch concerts here in the summer time," said Ciotti, "or you know, use your imagination, you could have Shakespeare in the park."

However, all that doesn't come cheap. Wednesday night folks were passing out flyers, drumming up support and asking for donations because after all, shouldn't there be a first class facility to go along with that number one ranking.

"After 42 years, this facility is not what it could be or should be for the level of support the town gives to both music and football," Dickinson said.

The total cost is $3 million between private donations and the town, they've raised about $2.1 million, so they'll need to do more fundraising and they hope to get a state grant as well.