St. Joseph to build $2.5 million athletics facility
As a group of frustrated students from a rival high school attempted to form their own cheering section along the sidelines at a St. Joseph football game last season, they chanted "Get some bleachers!"
The gridiron viewing experience at the Metuchen-based parochial school had a unique old-school charm that also proved challenging for spectators, only a couple hundred of who the school's portable bleachers could accommodate, leaving others to stand or erect lawn chairs along the field's perimeter.
Sight lines and accommodations will improve exponentially as St. Joseph plans to break ground next month on a new $2.5 million state-of-the-art athletic complex with bleacher seating for 1,500 spectators, according to John Anderson, the high school's principal.
The stadium will feature a multi-sport turf field, concession stand, ticket booth, bathrooms, press box, storage building and an eight-lane running track. The venue will support football, lacrosse, soccer, track and field, intramural sports and physical education classes. Estate-style fencing will surround the stadium.
"With the expansion of the stadium and the new facility coming, I think it's going to be an incredible place to come and watch a football game," said St. Joseph head coach Casey Ransone, who is also the school's admissions director.
"Right now our place is a tough place to watch a football game because you can't get a good vantage point. The fans are on top of the sidelines. I think it's just going to be such a better experience having this facility."
Anderson said St. Joseph received approval last week from the Metuchen zoning board to begin construction and that, in the absence of any appeals to the borough council or courts, the project could be completed before the start of the spring season.
School officials, who have already raised $1.5 million for the capital improvement, plan to make the track available for community use and elected not to erect permanent light stanchions out of deference to the neighborhood.
"I think it's definitely a great addition to the borough," Metuchen Mayor Tom Vahalla said. "It's going to draw people in and out of the borough and residents will get to use some of the facility when it's not being used by St. Joseph, so I think it's a win-win situation."
The stadium will be built atop the current football field known as "The Oval" and located at the front of the school's grounds along Plainfield Road. The track has not been upgraded since the mid-1980s and the football field had become pock-marked.
"First and foremost, we want to provide safe and adequate facilities for our current students," St. Joseph president Lawrence Walsh said, noting he hopes the new stadium, which the architectural firm Joseph DeAndre Associates designed, "becomes a rallying and a focal point for the high school, including alumni and parents, as another aspect of St. Joseph moving forward."
St. Joseph will become the 14th Greater Middlesex Conference football-playing school to install artificial turf. J.F. Kennedy, Colonia and North Brunswick debuted turf fields this season.
Ransone hopes the new facility will help raise the level of St. Joseph football to that of the school's basketball program, which is coming off a Tournament of Champions title, and its swimming program, which has won 37 consecutive conference crowns.
As a first-year member of the GMC last season, St. Joseph, in just its third year playing varsity football, captured the White Division championship and finished with a 9-1 record.
The Falcons, who opened this season with a loss at South Plainfield, will play all of their 2014 games on the road.
"I just think it adds to the toughness of, not only our schedule, but what the boys are going to have to go through this year," St. Joseph Athletics Director Jerry Smith said of not having a home field this season.
"On top of being the defending champion and being St. Joseph High School and playing on the road, I think these boys are in for a monumental task as far as how competitive their season is going to be, and I hope they are prepared for it."
The amenities of "The Oval" included scaffolding from where the public address announcer would call games and a cherry picker from where assistant coaches would be positioned. Both were perched alongside a serviceable but aging scoreboard.
St. Joseph made other capital improvements within the last decade, building a new science lab and library and constructing the Vincent Maglio Gymnasium, from whose rafters the jerseys of former Falcons and NBA stars Jay Williams and Andrew Bynum dangle.
"The building campaign of the new science labs and the gym, it gave a charge to the whole community," Walsh said. "It heightened the sense of pride and it also brought a renewed interest from our alumni. We are hoping that the new field, besides providing great facilities for our current student-athletes, will provide that pride in the community, that interest of 'Hey, what's going on at St. Joseph that they are now building a new facility?' "
St. Joseph played one of the most exciting regular-season games in GMC history two years ago at rival Bishop Ahr, where the atmosphere mirrored a college experience with students sections from both schools attempting to outdo one another.
A couple hundred St. Joseph students made the two-mile walk down Plainfield Road to Bishop Ahr for that game and sprinted the last couple hundred yards onto the Edison-based parochial school's campus.
The energy level during the second ever meeting between the rivals last season paled in comparison, largely due to "The Oval's" configuration and accomodations.
"I think this just gives students and their parents one more reason to realize we are keeping up with the times," Anderson said, "making sure that they are getting their bang for their buck and having the best inside and outside facilities to enhance their child's high school education."
Anderson said those interested in donating to the stadium project should email capitalcampaign@stjoes.org.
Staff Writer Greg Tufaro: 732-565-7289; gtufaro@mycentraljersey.com