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News
DOWLING OPENS ATHLETIC FIELDS COMPLEX
The athletic fields complex has been a vision of the leadership of Dowling College for quite sometime. Saturday's men's lacrosse game versus LeMoyne and Sunday's baseball game versus Southern New Hampshire marked a historic event as for the first time a home contest was played on Dowling soil.
"These fields are not only a welcome home for our tremendous athletic teams, but a resource for the entire surrounding community," said Robert J. Gaffney, president of Dowling College. "We thank the Town of Brookhaven and the many civic and community groups in the Shirley, Mastic, and Yaphank areas, which have been most helpful and gracious in our meetings with them during the past several months."
Phase I of the project has been completed which called for the clearing and leveling of 12 acres of land at the Brookhaven campus. The $12.5 million initiative included the building of a multi-purpose stadium, and a baseball and softball complex. All fields are composed of FieldTurf, a synthetic turf system used by many professional and college teams across the country. In all, over 285,000 square feet of FieldTurf was used in the project and has provided a true home field for the Golden Lion's men's and women's soccer, men's and women's lacrosse, baseball and softball athletic teams.
"It is very exciting time as we had the opportunity to host our first home game in 53 years", commented Rick Cole, Jr., Director of Athletics. "It is another example of the transformational growth at Dowling College. We are thrilled for what it will bring to the quality of student life and community engagement."
Plans for the new stadium were spearheaded with huge support from President Gaffney, Cole and the Board of Trustees. Board member Gerald Curtin, namesake of the Curtin Student Center and former lacrosse player and coach, chaired the committee that was influential in planning and securing the necessary funding the make the dream a reality.
"This new sports facility is one of the finest in the tri-state area," commented Michael Ryan, President of The LandTek Group, the contractor hired to complete the project. "Dowling's commitment to this project illustrates how serious they are about their sports program and the future of the college. Both the community and generations of athletes to come will benefit from dedication Dowling exhibits today."
About Dowling College
Dowling College is an independent, coeducational college that serves more than 6,500 students at
its historic Rudolph Campus on the banks of the Connetquot River in Oakdale, NY, and the 105-acre
Brookhaven Campus in eastern Long Island and a business center located near the Nassau-Suffolk
border in Melville. Dowling offers Bachelor′s, Master′s, and Doctoral degrees in several
disciplines through its four schools: Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business, and Education.
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