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Town officials this week approved three contracts for the design and planning of an upgraded baseball “stadium” at Waveny.
Coppo Field bleachers. Credit: Connor Markey
The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to approve a $155,900 in contracts for the pre-construction design work at Coppo Field, which is located behind Lapham Community Center.
Funding for the initial design is provided by the nonprofit New Canaan Athletic Foundation, although if the design is approved, additional funding will be required for construction, officials said during the selectmen’s regular meeting.
The project aims to increase the number of spectator seats around the field, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann.
Currently, Coppo has seating for around 50 people, Mann said. At a selectmen meeting earlier this month, Mann had said the new seating would accommodate 500 people, though he said Tuesday it would be closer to 200 or 300.
Coppo Field. Credit: Connor Markey
The lead architects for the project, Richter & Cegan, have previously done work on Dunning Stadium, Mann said.
“They’re the landscape architects, as well,” he said during the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “TLB architecture will help us tie in the two facilities, Dunning with the area of Lapham [Community Center]. McChord Engineering will do all of our site work and drainage.”
He added that construction for the project has not yet been approved, and the Athletic Foundation is aware that “if the town decides not to go forward with the project, then the design is moot.”
It’s unclear just how much construction of the new seating and associated improvements will cost. Officials say early estimates range between $2.5 to $5 million. A more accurate assessment of the cost will be available once the initial design work is completed, Mann said.
“As part of TLB’s scope of work, they have a professional cost estimator that will come in and give us a cost estimate for the construction,” he said.
First Selectman Kevin Moynihan and Selectmen Kathleen Corbet and Nick Williams voted 3-0 in favor of the contracts with Richter & Cegan, Inc. ($62,400), TLB Architecture, LLC ($48,950) McChord Engineering ($24,200) plus a $20,350 contingency.
The Athletic Foundation is seeking to finish the project as soon as possible, aiming to begin construction late next year, Mann said.
“They want to start immediately,” he said when asked about the timing. “The survey was performed and completed previously, so they have all the data that they need. We’re looking at a late-year build, late into 2024, and complete by next fall.”
During the meeting, Corbet asked Mann in what way Coppo Field would become a “stadium.” Mann responded that “stadium” was his own word for the project, not the NCAF’s.
Coppo Field is named after Joe Coppo, who at age 46 was one of three New Canaan men—with Eamon McEneaney, 46, and Brad Fetchet, 24—who died in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
During the town’s 9/11 ceremony last year, Moynihan said, “Joe Coppo, then 46 years old, was the beloved husband of Kathleen, father of four children and a beloved baseball coach, for whom Coppo Field is named at Waveny Park. Joe worked as a municipal bond trader for Cantor Fitzgerald near the top of World Trade Center Tower Two. As Mike Lupica wrote about Joe two weeks after he died: ‘Every town, if it is lucky, has somebody like Joe, the guy who doesn’t just want to coach his own kids, but all the kids.’ ”