Long-planned renovations and improvements at Dietz Stadium may be inching closer to fruition as the Kingston Common Council unanimously voted to approve borrowing up to $13.4 million for the project.
During a meeting of the Common Council held on Tuesday, October 5, applying an additional $300,000 from the Dietz Stadium Capital Reserve Fund to the project was also approved by unanimous vote. A further $5 million in grants awarded to the city will also be used for the estimated $18.7 million project.
The Dietz Stadium Master Plan includes a new scoreboard, improvements to the grandstand and press box, electrical upgrades throughout the stadium, an upgraded concession area, and a new entrance to the locker rooms and showers, areas which are also due for an upgrade. Replacing the turf field and track are also in the project.
$2.5 million of state grant funds for the project are for use on improvements to both the stadium and Andretta Pool, while the other $2.5 million are earmarked for the parking area.
Dietz Stadium is co-owned by the City of Kingston and the Kingston City School District, though it’s unclear as to the latter’s financial commitment.
In May 2018, area residents voted 1,673-413 to allow the school district to sign full ownership of Dietz back to the City of Kingston, believing that the state required a single municipal entity to own the property to allow for the grant funding to be used there. But a year later the transfer still hadn’t occurred, and some trustees began to wonder whether it was even necessary in the first place. It turned out not to be.
Dietz Stadium opened in 1949, and four decades later the school district bought half of the facility for $10 in exchange for sharing in its expenses. Though most often used by the Kingston Tigers for everything from football to lacrosse to track and field, the grounds have gained recent fame as the home of Kingston Stockade FC, a popular semi-pro soccer team that’s called Dietz home since its inaugural season in the summer of 2016.
Kingston Mayor Steve Noble said he believes the project could be completed in two years and would begin sometime in 2022.
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