The
Future of Breese Stevens Field
Breese
Stevens Field has been a bastion of soccer for 20 years. This City of Madison
Park has been host to state high school championships, collegiate action and
top level youth and adult amateur games. Anyone who has witnessed a game there
knows the field is first-rate, the atmosphere is superb and players love to
play there. Simply put, Breese Stevens Field is one of the finest soccer venues
in the state.
Despite
an illustrious past, “Breese” faces an uncertain future. This
76-year old city landmark is in dire need of major renovations. This may come
as a surprise to the casual visitor. Why? Visitors to Breese tend to overlook
its shortcomings and instead focus on the lush playing surface, the closed-in
feeling created by the classic stone wall and the sense of a bygone era. Well,
at least that’s the way I feel!
One must
venture into the bowels of Breese to truly comprehend the decay first-hand.
It’s ugly. Many improvements are necessary: Compliance with the Americans
with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other code issues, structural integrity
(foundation, light towers), as well as antiquated locker rooms, bathrooms,
office space and press box. Conservative estimates put the price tag at
$1,000,000 or more to correct these deficiencies. Compounding this dilemma is
our current state of fiscal distress. Currently, the City of Madison has frozen
all capital projects and it is unlikely that major funding will come from
public coffers in the foreseeable future.
Further,
revenues generated by Breese do not to cover the maintenance and staff costs to
operate the facility. Over time Parks Division funding has not kept pace with
the number of new city parks; consequently, facilities that operate in the red
strain an already tight budget.
The
Common Council established the Breese Stevens Neighborhood Planning Committee
for the purpose of investigating the future of Breese Stevens Field. A
resolution charged the Committee to undertake the following:
1.
Investigate
the future of Breese Stevens Field through a focused neighborhood planning
process;
2.
Determine
if present uses can be better served at an alternate location;
3.
Determine
if neighborhood scaled athletic programming may better serve the area;
4.
Investigate
which portions of the facility are most significant to its historic
designation; and
5.
Report
to the Common Council their recommendations, including a fiscal note.
Plans
call for the Committee to make recommendations by the fall of 2002.
Members
of the Breese Stevens Neighborhood Planning Committee are Eric Bertun, citizen
member and committee chair; citizen members Rick Bernstein, Ed Jepsen, and Bob
Shaw; alders Brenda Konkel and Judy Olson, park commission member Alfonso
Zepeda-Capistran; and Brad Weisinger of the Park Planning Staff.
- Eric Bertun