Dr. Jonathan C. Gibralter, President of Farmingdale State University of New York, recently announced that ground has been broken for the College's new $2.5 million baseball stadium.

This is the first groundbreaking for an athletic facility since the early 1970s and represents Phase I of Farmingdale's master plan for the Department of Athletics. In 1972, the current athletic facility, the George E. Nold Hall, was opened.

Farmingdale President Dr. Gibralter said, "While Farmingdale State continues to grow both in enrollment and academically, we recognize that athletics is an integral part of student life on Long Island. This expansion will provide a first-class training facility for our student athletes and will be the perfect location for high school championships and All Star games."

The state-of-the-art 1,000 seat baseball stadium will feature field turf (the same synthetic grass recently installed in Giant Stadium), dugouts, lights (donated by LIPA), batting cages, two bullpen warmup areas, a press box and a concession area. It will be enclosed by a brick facade. The stadium will have a very high left field wall to compensate for the short distance down the left field line.

"Farmingdale State has always had first class athletes, now we'll have a first class baseball stadium for our games," said Athletic Director Michael Harrington.

Farmingdale's central Long Island athletic facilities are used daily throughout the year, not only by the College's 15 teams but by community, high school and youth leagues. In the summer of 2002, for example, the SUNY All Stars baseball team, which consisted of SUNY players throughout New York State, stayed on campus to practice prior to heading over to Russia to compete. The new stadium can be used to host high school championship games.

Funding for the stadium was obtained through a combination of Empire State Development grants, private donations, and through the State University Construction Fund. When completed, Farmingdale's Athletic Complex will include an outdoor eight-lane track. Inside the track will be a field used by lacrosse and soccer teams.

The softball field will be expanded with new dugouts and bleachers. New tennis courts will be built and the Nold Hall facility, which currently houses a pool, racquetball and squash courts, indoor track, basketball courts, a golf simulator, and a weight room, will be renovated. The total cost of Farmingdale State's new Athletic Complex will be about $5 million.

Farmingdale is a member of the NCAA, the Eastern College Athletic Conference, Women's Intercollegiate Athletic conference and the prestigious Skyline Athletic Conference. The stadium should open in the spring 2004. State

Senator Charles J. Fuschillo, Jr., who helped the college to obtain funding, has agreed to throw out the first pitch at the inaugural game.