City to celebrate Manning Field today

Celebrating a new home for many of its sports teams, the City of Lynn will formally introduce Manning Field to the community with an open house and ceremony today.”It’s supposed to be a beautiful day,” said John Kasian, a facilities manager in the city Office of Economic Development, who oversees Manning Field. “It would be nice to have a good turnout.”The events begin at 3 p.m., when the general public can tour Manning Field until 5:30. At the subsequent ceremony this evening, all four city high schools – Lynn Classical, Lynn English, Lynn Tech, and St. Mary’s – will have representation through their varsity football, cheerleading, and boys and girls varsity soccer teams, with the members of each squad appearing in uniform.The Lynn School Band and the Lynn English Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps will also appear, as well as invited guests, including elected officials from the city and state. (Kasian said he believed Congressman John Tierney would be present.) The Rev. Monsignor Paul V. Garrity, pastor of St. Mary’s, will deliver the invocation at 6 p.m.The concept of a Manning Field dates back four years ago. In October of 2004, Mayor Edward J. Clancy assembled the Manning Field Commission, a group of 10 citizens (one of whom was Kasian). Manning Bowl, the decades-old predecessor to Manning Field, was demolished in September 2005, and over the next two years, work on the new complex progressed in two phases. In Phase I, a field was constructed with a track and lights, and a football and soccer facility debuted in September 2006; temporary stands and makeshift amenities were added in 2007. Phase II witnessed the construction of a building and stands to accommodate spectators this spring. Kasian estimated that the project is 99 percent done. It has cost $12 million.”I think, all in all, we’ve done pretty well,” Kasian said.He also said that Bill Gaine, a representative from the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association, praised Manning Field when he visited it a month ago. Gaine said that the facility was the best stadium in Massachusetts from what he’d seen.City sports fans will have ample opportunities to see local teams play at Manning Field this week. The Classical and St. Mary’s football squads will face off against each other on Thursday, while the English football team plays there on Friday and its Tech counterpart will play on Saturday morning. High school soccer teams will take the field on Tuesday and Wednesday.In comparing Manning Field with Manning Bowl, Kasian described each facility as a credit to its era.”I think, probably, in its time, when it was built, Manning Bowl held the same esteem as, I think, people are looking at the new Manning Field,” Kasian said. “Unfortunately, it had gotten to a point where it couldn’t be rehabbed. It was a wonderful, special, great facility.”And one that he said has a worthy successor today.”We’re very proud of what we have,” he said. “The last couple years, even though the building was not there, various communities who played there have been in awe.”