by Mike Pavlichko
Following the 2019 football season, crews in Piscataway tore down the old bleachers and press box at Dominic Ciardi Stadium, and began building a brand-new one on the land affectionately known as Green Acres.
But did they still build it if there are no fans to sit there with no games to watch?
Despite a petition to bring back fall sports by local youth coach Joe Bellamy – who took his soon Rocco out of the district and enrolled him at St. Joseph of Metuchen, where he had a solid opening game in a 17-12 win over Elizabeth Saturday heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio – football and other athletic teams remain sidelined in Piscataway.
But a trip to the new stadium shortly after that season-opening win for St. Joe’s – one of the top teams in the newly-formed Big Central Football Conference in 2020 – revealed a gleaming new facility, while a few local youths worked out at mid-field.
According to the Piscataway School District website, the new bleachers are ADA compliant, and the stadium has “new lighting and fencing, and accompanying ground work.” It appears from a visit to Ciardi Stadium the capacity also has increased, with larger bleachers on the visitors’ sideline.
The facility also includes a new press box with three rooms, with the center hosting the PA, scoreboard and official, and the two side rooms presumably either for coaches and/or media. There’s also room on the roof and on either side of the press box for extra media and/or team videographers.
See a gallery of the new Dominic Ciardi Stadium below: