Don Mild played on the Brookfield High School football team that went undefeated in 1955, and played its home games on Nicholas Field on Addison Road. There are a lot of memories for him there.
Now that the school district has moved on from that field and is playing its home football games at a newly renovated stadium on the school campus on Bedford Road, “I miss it already,” he said of Nicholas Field.
But, Mild did not seem bitter. He attended the first home football game on the renovated field on Sept. 6.
“It’s a nice start, anyway,” he said, noting that there are no permanent restrooms and the district plans to add those and other amenities in the future.
“It’s always weird not being able to go to places that you used to go,” said Ron Gibson, who attended the Sept. 6 game to cheer on his nephew, who played for Brookfield’s opponent, Victory Christian.
Gibson, who grew up in Sharon and has family in Brookfield, said he remembers Nicholas Field from years ago.
“Change is not always all bad,” he said. “This stadium looks a lot better.”
“I think this is really nice,” said Heather Schwartz, who also attended the opening football game.
She said she liked the light show when the Warriors scored a touchdown. Although parking is “a little wonky,” it’s better than the “disaster” of a parking lot at Nicholas Field, she said. She also said it’s easier to explain how to get to the new field than it was for Nicholas Field, which did not have a mailing address.
“The kids, I’m sure, are loving it, having something brand new, nice and fancy,” Schwartz said. “Just shows that they appreciate the hard work and the time they (school officials) put in to give them something nice to play on.”
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Schwartz’s comment gets to district Supt. Toby Gibson’s motivation for moving football to the school campus and, eventually, holding all district sporting events there. Currently, baseball and softball are still played at Brookfield Township Community Park, but officials are working on plans to build ball fields at the campus.
“We grew up with good enough,” said Gibson, a Brookfield High graduate. “Why not the best? Our kids deserve the best.”
School board member Jerry Necastro called the renovated stadium “gorgeous.”
“You (Gibson) and I over the years, coaching together, we always talked about going to other stadiums, and seeing what other kids had, and we always said, ‘Why not Brookfield kids?’” Necastro said. “I know it was always a dream of yours. We made that dream a reality. You should be proud of that. I would think the district is proud of you for pulling this off. As we move forward to finishing the phases, that’s just something that, I would think, the township of Brookfield will always look at you as being the guy behind this and made it all happen. For that, I’m very thankful.”
The district spent about $1 million renovating the stadium, which included adding bleachers, extending utilities, and moving lights from Nicholas Field and adding new ones. District officials meant to have the stadium ready for the first scheduled home game on Aug. 23, but didn’t make the deadline, and that game became an away game in Hubbard.
“That was a lot more of an undertaking than we thought it was gonna be,” district Treasurer Jordan Weber said of the renovation.
They just barely made the stadium ready for Sept. 6.
“An hour before the game, they were still finishing things off,” said school board member Ronda Bonekovic.
“I know Randy and Toby were up there getting the sound system hooked up at about 3 o’clock,” Weber said, referring to Gibson and Randy Clark, the district’s maintenance supervisor and head football coach.
Weber said the contractors hired took ownership of the project, some going beyond the scopes of their contracts for no additional pay, and a host of volunteers also helped prepare the field in any way they could.
“It’s all worth it,” said school board member Sarah Kurpe. “We received a lot of compliments.”
For those who keep track of such things, Ahmire Dixon of Victory Christian scored the first touchdown at the stadium, taking the opening kickoff to the house. Rico Smith scored the first Warrior touchdown on a run during the home team’s first possession. Victory Christian won the game 23-6.