-If you saw the Tenney Field grandstand at Brattleboro Union High School in March, you would have seen a dilapidated mess. Unused since 2017, when it was closed due to safety concerns, its continued existence was very much in doubt.
But after voters in the Windham Southeast School District signed off on a three-year, $450,000 capital plan to renovate the grandstand, work has progressed through the spring and summer months to give the historic structure a second chance. The crumbling concrete has been repaired, a fresh coat of paint has been applied, and new ramps are being built for those with impaired mobility.
Ricky Aither, Director of Facilities at BUHS, wrote to The Commons that the grandstand project "is starting to come together and real progress has been made on getting this facility back open again for use as covered outdoor learning spaces, spectator seating, and potentially available for hosting events."
Aither said it has taken many hands to move things along, and thanked "our local contractors and lumber/hardware stores for the continued donations and support on this project."
Evans Construction of Dummerston enclosed the rafters and made all concrete repairs and has been a valuable resource for the project all around.
Kings Electric of Brattleboro re-installed the existing lighting, and Iron & Oak Metalworks of Brattleboro has made all of the existing railings code compliant and are currently in the design phase for the aisle railings.
Stebbins Spectacular Painting of Brattleboro completed the lead paint renovation, repair, painting, and maintenance.
Greg Clark General Contractors of Brattleboro has begun building all ADA requirement needs. The deck footings and deck framing began in July, and Clark will continue on the weekends as weather permits.
Aither said Friends of Tenney Field, a nonprofit group that has worked for the past few years to raise money and support for the project, "secured lumber, concrete, and other donations needed for us to construct an ADA decking and platform for ADA seating. They have also been in contact with BUHS alumni and other local builders in regards to volunteer days to help assist with the construction of ADA compliance issues."
Aither said Austin Design of Brattleboro "was highly involved in providing us with construction drawings and other important schematics needed for us to complete our goal."
Once the ADA compliance issues have been addressed, Aither said the next step will be "figuring out our seating layouts, aisle layout, and outdoor power needs. We had a realistic goal of late August for having this open, but that now looks like early fall, to be ready for fall classes to use as a shaded, covered, cooler, fresh air environment for our students and staff."
Aither said future phases would include bringing the bathrooms into ADA compliance as well as occupancy complaince.
"There would need to be some renovation for this to happen," he said. "The grandstand would not have the bathrooms open when we start. We would supply porta-potties or provide building use to meet occupancy requirements. "
The Tenney Field grandstand, listed on the Vermont Register of Historic Places, was built in 1947 to replace a wooden grandstand constructed in the late 1930s with labor from the federal Works Progress Administration. The original grandstand was destroyed in a 1946 fire.
The 1947 replacement is one of only four large-scale structures of its kind in the state, and the only one located in southern Vermont. It will be be a great day for Brattleboro baseball fans when it is reopened once again.
A great summer for Vermont soccer
• The Vermont Green Football Club has been the feel-good sports story of the summer as Burlington's representative in United Soccer League 2 (USL2) won the men's national championship on Aug. 2 at Virtue Field on the campus of the University of Vermont.
USL2 is a semi-professional, summertime league made up largely of collegiate players. It has about 150 teams across the country.
Vermont Green FC made it through the regular season and the playoffs without a loss, culminating in a 2-1 win in stoppage time over Seattle-based Ballard FC to win the USL2 championship. Maxi Kissel, one of five members of the UVM team that won the NCAA Division I men's soccer championship last fall who are now playing for the Green, scored the game winner off a corner kick in the game's waning moments.
Winning the USL2 title means that the Green has qualified for a berth in the 2026 U.S. Open Cup, the nation's oldest ongoing soccer tournament. First held in 1914, this tournament is open to professional and amateur teams affiliated with U.S. Soccer. It will be the Green's second trip to the Open Cup.
Now in its fourth season, Vermont Green FC and has garnered international attention for its outspoken support of climate justice and other progressive social causes.
In its mission statement, the team states that it "believes soccer can be a powerful catalyst for a more environmentally sustainable and socially just world. We're on a mission to build a football club that reflects these values and embeds environmental justice into its competitive strategy, operational processes, and culture. We're building a club that prioritizes the environment in all business decisions impacting our local and global communities."
The Green regularly draws sellout crowds for its home games, boasting some of the highest average attendance of any similar team in the country.
The USL2 Championship is great, but it is just one part of Vermont Green FC's work to keep growing the sport of soccer in our state.
For the second straight year, the Green fielded a women's team with World Cup winner Sam Mewis as its head coach. Now retired from the U.S. national team, Mewis lives in Colchester and is part of the effort to put together a team for the USL's Super League, a professional league which was founded last year and now has eight teams.
The Green's women's team played a pair of exhibition games in June before sold-out crowds at Virtue Field and and won both games against semipro teams Flower City Union and A.S. Blainville.
Vermont Green FC has said it is committed to adding a women's team to its soccer operations, with the exhibition games serving as the first step toward that goal. Given the support for soccer and the Green's social mission, there is little doubt that it will happen.
Slots still available for Vermont hunter-bowhunter education courses
• If you are a first-time hunter, bowhunter, or trapper in Vermont, you need to successfully complete a hunter-bowhunter education course before you can get a license.
There is no cost to take this 16-hour course, which is taught by volunteer instructors and covers many topics, including safe handling of firearms and bows, ethics and safety, and map and compass use. All participants who pass all aspects of this course will be presented with both their orange hunter education card and their yellow bowhunter education card.
There are two hunter-bowhunter courses available locally. The first takes place on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 23 and 24, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day, at the Deerfield Valley Sportsmen Club, 641 Fowler Rd., in Whitingham. Sportsmens Inc. in Guilford will also offer the course on Sunday, Sept. 20 and 21, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, at the club area located on 2081 Creamery Rd.
You must complete the prerequisite homework prior to the start of this course. The homework can be completed online at hunter-ed.com/vermont and bowhunter-ed.com/vermont, or you can complete the manuals and workbooks offline. To request the manual and workbooks, contact the Hunter Education Program at 802-828-1193 or email them at [email protected].
Be sure to bring your certificates of completion or completed workbooks to the first class. Students should dress for the weather and bring a water bottle. You may bring your own bow and arrows if you wish, but all supplies will be provided. Do not bring ammo or firearms. Students under 16 must bring a signedparental consent form.
Senior bowling roundup
• Week 15 of the spring/summer season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League at Brattleboro Bowl on Aug. 7 saw Team 7 (51-24) remain in first place, while Slo Movers (46.5-28.5) had a 0-5 week to slide into a second place tie with Cyclones (46.5-28.5), which had a 5-0 week. Dims (40-35) is in fourth, followed by Wayne's World (38-37), Leftovers (37-38), I.D. Care (32-43), Having Fun (30-45), 4 Queens (29.5-44.5), and Strikers (24.5-50.5).
Deb Kolpa had the women's high handicap game (266) and series (711), while Chuck Adams had the men's high handicap game (283) and series (728). 4 Queens had the high team handicap game (917) and Cyclones had the high handicap series (2,566).
Adams had the men's high scratch series (719), with games of 277, 234, and 199, while Kevin Napaver had a 579 series with games of 200 and 190. Warren Corriveau Sr. had a 558 series with a 194 game, Robert Rigby had a 533 series with a 214 game, Pete Cross had a 530 series, and Eric Brown had a 205 game.
Deb Fantini had the women's high scratch series (534) and game (203). She also had a 180 game. Carol Gloski had a 512 series with a 201 game, Kolpa had a 510 series with a 199 game, and Mary Parliman has a 162 game.
Randolph T. Holhut, deputy editor of this newspaper, has written this column since 2010 and has covered sports in Windham County since the 1980s. Readers can send him sports information at [email protected]. Busy Anderson of UVM's Community News Service and Shaun Robinson of VTDigger.org contributed to this report.
This Sports column by Randolph T. Holhut was written for The Commons.