East Providence's iconic Pierce Field facility is in need of 'dire' repair

Almost 30 years after renovations, the landmark stadium, other elements are due for significant upgrades

By Mike Rego
Posted 9/28/18

EAST PROVIDENCE — Pierce Field grounds supervisor Tony Vieira has a stark message for the residents and administrators of the city: Its landmark stadium and facilities are crumbling and are in need …

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East Providence's iconic Pierce Field facility is in need of 'dire' repair

Almost 30 years after renovations, the landmark stadium, other elements are due for significant upgrades

Posted

EAST PROVIDENCE — Pierce Field grounds supervisor Tony Vieira has a stark message for the residents and administrators of the city: Its landmark stadium and facilities are crumbling and are in need of almost immediate action.
Mr. Vieira recently spoke about the status of the venerable Pierce Field facility, according to medallions placed within its cement walls and walkways built over a four-year span between 1935-1939 under the auspices of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s depression-era Works Progress Administration.
It’s been nearly three decades since a comprehensive renovation at Pierce took place in 1991. Then several of the original elements were upgraded, but, now, going on 28 years later additional updates are required.
“This would be a multi-million dollar refurbishment, like what happened in ’91. But everything has gone up. The cost of everything has gone up,” Mr. Vieira said.
The stadium, itself, needs appreciable repair, its intricate stonework crumbling in several spots. Portions of the baseball field must be fixed, from the backstop to the scoreboard.
Cracks streak throughout the basketball and tennis courts. And even the small playground area hasn’t had any new sand placed there for over a decade.
“The whole place is in dire need of attention,” said Mr. Vieira, who has worked at Pierce for some 15 years and became its supervisor upon the retirement of Joe Medeiros earlier this calendar year.
Baseball field
Touring the facility, Mr. Vieira went through the repairs bit by bit. He said it would cost approximately $24,000 to replace the baseball backstop. It’s currently missing some of its support structure, he said, and other parts have rusted through completely.
The scoreboard in right field, dating back to about 1996, recently received its “last rites” from the vendor, Mr. Vieira continued. He said it did not work for most of the recent East Providence High School season. It was available to the Interscholastic League during the 2018 baseball playoffs, but the control panel (the “motherboard” is how Mr. Vieira referred to it) will only last for so much longer.
“I don’t think it’ll be able to be fixed anymore. They’ve soldered it so much inside, they can’t do it anymore. It’s done,” Mr. Viera added of the baseball scoreboard controls.
The lights and poles surrounding the diamond are original and need to be replaced. Mr. Vieira, citing an estimate provided to City Facilities Director Ed Catelli several years ago, said it would cost a couple hundred thousand dollars to redo. Mr. Catelli, who received a $250,000  appraisal some three years prior, gauges with the reduction in cost of LED fixtures, the baseball field lighting and poles could be replaced at around $200,000 including rebates and other discounts.
Something as rudimentary as the infield dirt mix also must be addressed, Mr. Vieira said. He explained infield mix has not been purchased since the state-appointed budget commission took over city operations in 2011.
“We haven’t bought infield mix since before the budget commission came,” Mr. Vieira continued. “Through a relationship between Joe (Medeiros) and the people at McCoy Stadium we were getting their old stuff.
“Imagine that. We were getting their used stuff. So when (the Pawtucket Red Sox) had a long away trip, they would scrape off the top inch or two, put it in a pile and we would go pick it up, DPW would go get it. And then we would put in on our fields. That’s how we were getting by.”
Basketball/tennis courts
The Pierce basketball courts, which received mostly cosmetic repairs led by the volunteer efforts of John Carnevale about three years ago, as well as the tennis courts suffer from severe cracking. Only the new backboards and posts put in place during Mr. Carnevale’s work remain in good stead.
“We’ve been dumping crack filler in these courts for years,” Mr. Vieira said. “We used to buy it by the gallon. But at some point they said enough is enough. The more you fill it, the deeper the cracks get. And then it expands with the rain and the ice because it’s exposed to the elements. The water seeps right in and it doesn’t do the job.”
Similarly, the parking lot also needs to be repaved, Mr. Vieira saying, “There’s racks everywhere. The catch basins are falling apart.”
In addition, Mr. Vieira can’t remember the last time sand for the playground being replaced in his Pierce tenure.
“Sand is good because its porous and the rain helps naturally clean it, but, still, we haven’t had new sand for something like 15 years,” he said.
Pierce Stadium
The centerpiece Pierce Memorial Stadium, however, is where most of the repairs are needed. The rock walls are falling down. The lighting is old and ineffective. The fencing, like at the baseball field, is rotting.
"The stonework is part of the original construction,” Mr. Vieira said. “As you can imagine the grout is starting to give way. Certain spots, I would think we might consider getting rid of them all together.
“It’s everywhere. It’s been years now. We’ve had the parks guys come over, the mason, but it’s still falling apart. It would be a massive undertaking to fix it all.”
A decision must also be made about the track surrounding the football field. Mr. Vieira asked rhetorically should it be repaired or replaced or do you just get rid of it? He noted there’s been no major construction at the stadium except for replacing the old wooden light poles felled by weather about eight years ago and the retrofitting of restrooms to meet Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines. All of the lights and transformers, except for one set, are still original.
Worse than at the baseball field, the stadium scoreboard, like one of the light posts, was felled by severe winds in March of this year. The good news is it could…could be back in place for use by the EPHS football team sometime this fall.
“It’s been ordered and paid for. We’re waiting for the arrival of board. I think we might get it here in October. That’s what we were told back in August. I hope that holds true,” Mr. Vieira said.
Another piece of good news for his perspective is Pierce has been budgeted for the installation of a security system, something it's never had.
“We need that, surveillance cameras,” Mr. Vieira said. “I’m looking forward to having that hopefully in the spring.”
Future approach
As the old baseball saying goes, “Hope ‘springs’ eternal,” and Mr. Vieira remains an optimist about the future of the entire Pierce facility.
He said there are two obvious ways to approach remedying all of the issues at the complex: a one-off overhaul or a gradual restoration.
“It depends on what you want to do with it,” he said. “Do you want to piecemeal it together, do it little by little with grants here and there? That can be done. Or do you want to do it in one shot, like they did in ’91? That’s what happened back then. They realized it’s been 30 years since we did anything and they needed to boost this place back up again. And they went through it all.
“The fields themselves, the playability, they're fine. They’re used every day. We rent them out like crazy. It’s the infrastructure, the concrete, the lighting, those are the things that need to get done.”
And if a new East Providence High School is built, it’s likely Pierce will see its usage by all athletes there skyrocket during at least a few years of construction. With that mind, Mr. Vieira said replacing the stadium’s grass with artificial turf, likely at a cost of around $750,000, might need to be considered.
Mr. Vieira also speculated if the stadium was turfed, the Interscholastic League, which once used Pierce as its hub for fall sports championships, would likely return and add a notable revenue stream.
“I could almost guarantee the Interscholastic League would bring everything back here if we had turf because they like the access, the parking and how it splits the state in half,” he said.
In the end, however the fixes are done, Mr. Vieira is of the opinion the new mayor and/or council should seat a permanent oversight committee for the facility so the city doesn't once more find itself in a similar position down the road.
“One of my hopes or goals is to start a committee, like they have with the carousel. Have a Pierce Field committee,” Mr. Vieira said. “I think the committee thing would be good for smaller projects, for the constant maintenance, so we’re not in this situation again in 20 or 30 years.”

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