Phase I of the Breese Stevens Field has been completed, and soccer games have resumed. Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, along with Parks Superintendent Kevin Briski, and soccer players from Edgewood High School and McFarland High School, will lead a re-dedication of the field on Saturday, August 30 at 11:45a.m.

Breese Stevens Field, 917 E. Mifflin Street, was built in 1926 by the Civil Works Administration (CWA), a short-lived New Deal Program. This historic municipal field has been home to minor league baseball, high school football, midget car racing, softball, and boxing. But in 1982, Breese Stevens Field was rehabilitated and converted into a premier soccer facility.

While the turf and playing conditions have always remained top-notch, the rest of the facility has deteriorated over the past several decades.

In 2002 a Breese Stevens Neighborhood Planning committee was developed to help determine the future of the facility. After several public listening sessions, the recommendation was that Breese Stevens Field remain a soccer facility.

"I'm so pleased to see renovation at Breese Stevens and the park open to soccer games again," Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said. "With these new renovations, Breese Stevens is fit to be a premier soccer facility for local teams and statewide tournaments."

When the Common Council passed the 2007 Capital Budget, it included money for the Phase I renovation of the structural deficiencies in the building. The Phase I project included: major concrete decking repair, replacement of the storm sewer system for better field and bleacher drainage, and renovation work to get the building up to ADA code by adding accessible seating, an internal accessible entrance to the bleachers and a new accessible restroom.

Phase 2 construction is scheduled to begin March 2009. Phase 2 consists of a new press box, pa system, painting/cleaning the old locker room areas, referee lock rooms tuck pointing the walls, inside and out and repair/painting the existing canopy along Paterson St.