Success puts Manning Field in focus

LYNN - When Gloucester and Masconomet kicked off in the early game of the MIAA Eastern Mass. semifinal football doubleheader Tuesday night at Manning Field, it reinforced the reasons the facility was torn down and rebuilt.

"It's the frosting on the cake," said mayor Edward J. Clancy Jr. "It's a good thing for the city. It puts us in a good light. People want to come here ... they obviously feel safe ... It all shows that the city of Lynn can run a first-class event as well as anybody."

Four years ago, upon the completion of the 2004 season, the facility - built during the Great Depression as a WPA project - had to be razed.

"It was falling down," Clancy said. "It had become functionally obsolete. To put substantial money into it wouldn't have been the smart thing to do."

Its reconstruction came with plenty of local opposition, as people were concerned not only about what it would cost, but that a tangible piece of local history would be buried in the rubble.

"History's important," said site director John Kasian, who works for the Department of Community Development. "But we'll always have the memories from the old Manning Bowl."

Moreover, Clancy says, "the primary reason (to build a new facility) was to allow the kids in Lynn - football, soccer, track, lacrosse players - to have a first-class facility just like Manning Bowl was 50 years ago.

"Having these playoff games, just like when (North Reading baseball coach) Frank Carey brings the Eastern Mass. baseball all-star game to Fraser Field, is frosting on the cake. It's wonderful. It shows that the whole plan has worked."

Both Masco coach Jim Pugh and Gloucester's Paul Ingram got their first look at the completed facility prior to last night's first game (Everett played BC High in the nightcap).

"This is high school football at its finest," said Pugh. "It is incredibly impressive. Our kids were really excited to play in Lynn."

Ingram, who brought his Fishermen to a partially-completed facility last year, couldn't get over the field in its finished form.

"This is a beautiful facility and it's well-deserved," Ingram said. "I'm really glad for the Lynn kids to have a facility like this. And it's great for the rest of us to be able to share in it. This was our choice among all the sites."

The games have another local connection. Grant Communications coordinated and designed the 92-page program book for all the Eastern Mass. playoff and Super Bowl games. They were available last night and will be available again Saturday at the various Super Bowl sites in the state.

Kasian said the this past fall, more than 150 events took place at Manning Field, including high school football, soccer, Pop Warner football, and semipro football. In addition, the facility hosted a major soccer state tournament game.

"We had enough activity so that the field was in use seven days a week," Kasian said.

More activity looms for the spring, including a full slate of high school lacrosse games and outdoor track.

When the facility was completed, the Agganis football and soccer classics returned to Manning Field this past summer for the first time since 2004.

"We also hope to have a state coaches' track meet in June," Kasian said. Going forward, Kasian said, the city hopes to schedule Drum and Bugle Corps competitions next summer (the 2009 circuit is booked).

July 2009

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