Forget the Roses, Mayor Thomas Sends Memorial Field an “Industrial Strength Valentine”

Amid Bulldozers, Announces City Set to Open Field and Temporary Track This Summer

Working in Winter Months Helps Produce $500,000 in Savings for Taxpayers

With giant boulders and mounds of dirt being removed around him, Mayor Richard Thomas delivered a valentine to Memorial Field on Wednesday, announcing that the iconic Mount Vernon park is set to reopen this summer with grass turf and a temporary track available to the public for walking, jogging and other recreational activities.

“We are giving Memorial Field an ‘Industrial Strength Valentine,’” Thomas said at a press conference, joined by city commissioners and excavation crews. “No cards, candy or flowers. Instead we brought bulldozers and dump trucks. Who says moving dirt and boulders can’t be romantic? The point behind Valentine’s Day is to show commitment, and these trucks are here- and in action — to show our unwavering commitment to restoring Memorial Field.”

Going forward, the Mayor said the city is employing a two-prong approach to Memorial Field’s restoration. Short-term: Deliver tangible results. Longer-term: Engage all stakeholders in the final outcome.

The first prong is to have the have the grass grown out and a temporary track installed by summer. This would allow for walking, jogging, frisbee throwing, pick-up soccer and touch football games and other outdoor activities, with Memorial Field operating in much the same way as Westchester County runs passive parks like the one at the Kensico Dam.

Mount Vernon expects to save about $500,000 by doing most of the work in house and taking advantage of off-season, winter trucking rates. The total cost of this phase of restoration is expected to be about $800,000.

The second prong — working out the long-term future of Memorial Field to put the 12-acre complex on a money-generating footing with a turf field, regulation eight-lane track and grandstands — will continue simultaneously, but will take time to resolve all the financial, legal and operational issues that have delayed progress in the past.

To get the longer-term process moving, Thomas is setting up a series of meetings with key stakeholders, including federal, state and county officials, the City Council and Comptroller, the Board of Education, students, residents and business, religious and community leaders. Details of the meetings will be announced in the next several weeks.

“We are determined to get the gates open by summer and we are determined to resolve the problems that have been delaying the future vision for too long,” Thomas said. “There’s no better day than Valentine’s Day to end the heartbreak at Memorial Field.”