Mount Vernon, NY According to Mayor Richard Thomas, the city’s Memorial Field, which borders Pelham and the Hutchinson River Parkway, is set to reopen this summer with a temporary track and field for play available to the public for walking, jogging and other recreational activities.
The project came amidst a broad revitalization effort in the southern Westchester County city. The Thomas Administration has streamlined and improved its Buildings Department to foster more economic development and to be more responsive to property owners.
Last summer, four developers–Mark Alexander, Carlton Brown, Sam Mermelstein and Joe Simeone –revealed $300 million worth of market-rate residential construction that will bring 900 units to the city.
Recent figures from the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors show that homes in the city are now selling for 95% of their listing price, up from around 92% from 2016, a result of increased confidence in the city’s real estate market. The 12-acre Memorial Field will continue to be a vital resource in attracting families to the area.
The field, which has been in use since the 1920s, has a long and storied history. Heavyweight champion James Braddock, portrayed by Russel Crowe in the film “Cinderella Man,” fought there in 1933; a farm team for the NFL’s New York Giants played their home games there and it was the site of the famous “Mean” Joe Green Coca-Cola commercial. The Jackson 5, James Brown and Ella Fitzgerald all performed concerts there.
Adjacent to several shopping plazas and multiple free municipal parking lots, the field, which also houses tennis courts, is less than a mile from New York City, off Exit 8 on the Hutchinson River Parkway. The city is employing a two-pronged approach to the field’s restoration.
The first prong is to have a field and temporary running track installed by summer. This would allow for walking, jogging, frisbee throwing, pick-up soccer and touch football games and other outdoor activities.
“I am proud to say we are on track to reopen Memorial Field this summer for the public able to enjoy,” mayor Thomas said. “Just having the field accessible to the public will open a host of opportunities for our Recreation Department.”
Mount Vernon expects to save about $500,000 by doing most of the work in house and taking advantage of off-season, winter trucking rates. The total cost of this phase of restoration is expected to be about $800,000.
The second prong – working out the long-term future of Memorial Field to put it on a money-generating footing with a turf field, regulation eight-lane track and grandstands – will continue simultaneously, but will take time to resolve all the financial, legal and operational issues that have delayed progress in prior years.
To get the longer-term process moving, Thomas is setting up a series of meetings with key stakeholders, including federal, state and county officials, the City Council and comptroller, the Board of Education, students, residents and business, religious and community leaders.
“This is further evidence that Mount Vernon is on the rise,” Thomas said. “With new residential development throughout the city, people understand that Mount Vernon, just 22 minutes to Manhattan by Metro North and surrounded by six major highways, is the region’s next ‘edge city’ and Memorial Field is an important part of that future.”