(Rockville Centre, NY) – A ribbon cutting ceremony was held today at the Dean G. Skelos Sports Complex in Rockville Centre, marking the opening of a new state-of-the-art NCAA softball field. The extensive renovation was accomplished as a public/private partnership whereby the Village supplied the land and Molloy College the capital to build the new complex. Both residents and college athletes will benefit from the partnership.
Molloy College has entered into a twenty-year agreement with the Village of Rockville Centre to further improve the athletic facilities at the Skelos Sports Complex. The Bob Klein Softball Field gives the college an NCAA-regulation softball field and provides the Village as well as the Rockville Centre School District with the cost-free use of the upgraded field.
Photo (Left to Right): Village of Rockville Centre Deputy Mayor Nancy Howard, President of Molloy College Drew Bogner, Village of Rockville Centre Mayor Francis X. Murray and Molloy College Softball Head Coach Susan Cassidy-Lyke cut the ribbon on the new state-of-the-art NCAA softball field at Bob Klein Field.
“I am ecstatic to bring one of the top softball facilities in the region to Rockville Centre,” commented Mayor Francis X. Murray. “It gives our children a wonderful opportunity to play on a modern NCAA field. Our local sports organizations are gaining first-class synthetic surface fields. It is far beyond what we could do with our taxpayer dollars.”
In an effort to upgrade the facility and bring it to NCAA standards, Klein Field now features a state-of-the-art playing surface consisting of an artificial turf outfield and DuraEdge clay infield. Also included are an enclosed sixty-foot precast dugouts with storage, designated and enclosed bullpens on the first- and third-base sides, a sixty-by-thirty-three foot enclosed batting cage beyond the left-field fence, a 150-seat grandstand with an elevated press box located behind home plate, and permanent outfield fencing set for NCAA regulation depths. Existing lights have been maintained and utilized for the facility, making it the only complex with NCAA standard playing lights in the East Coast Conference.
In addition to the renovations to Klein Field, an artificial turf tee-ball field is being constructed beyond the center field wall, complete with fifty-foot bases, team benches, water fountains, and a backstop. This maintenance-free area will provide the town additional space for its growing youth softball programs to play games.
“We are pleased to be partnering with the Village of Rockville Centre on this project,” said Drew Bogner, Ph.D. and President of Molloy. “It will provide an all-weather surface that will expand the availability and utilization of the field.”
