Bleachers Should Be Ready for Waterford Game

The plan was to have the new bleachers at Ledyard High School ready in time for the Montville game on Oct. 28. That didn’t quite happen (although with a 65-21 victory, no one is complaining).

Now, with what could be an even bigger football game looming Friday night vs. the 5-1 Waterford Lancers, it appears there will be more than enough seating for the home team fans.

Board of Education Maintenance Director Sam Kilpatrick said Thursday that construction of the new bleachers is essentially complete. The district now is just waiting for a certificate of occupancy to be issued.

“That’s what we’re working on,” said Kilpatrick, who was planning to present an update on the bleachers at the school board’s regular meeting Wednesday. “Construction of the bleachers portion of project is essentially done. Now we just need the fire marshal and the building official to come over and give us a C.O.” 

Ledyard will host Waterford for the second straight year on Friday because Waterford’s new home field is under construction.

Playing on the road, however, has not been a problem for the Lancers, whose five wins include impressive victories over Stonington and Fitch, and last week’s 32-0 blowout of Killingly in a game played at the Coast Guard Academy in New London.

The Colonels, meanwhile, have some business to settle. Last year, the Lancers came into Mignault Field on homecoming weekend and shocked Ledyard, 20-14. The loss – the first to Waterford since 1995 – cost Ledyard a playoff bid.

The old wooden bleachers were installed in the mid-1960s, two years after the high school was built, Kilpatrick said. Last spring town voters approved a $325,000 bond issue for new bleachers after an engineering firm hired to inspect the old bleachers declared them “at the end of their useful life.”

Construction of the new bleachers began Oct. 8. They feature galvanized steel framing with aluminum seats, decking and risers. They will seat 1,248, Kilpatrick said.

“I know we couldn’t have filled them up at last week’s game,” he said, adding that he was disappointed by the smaller-than-usual turnout. “I think the Montville crowd was bigger than the Ledyard crowd.”

He is hoping for a better turnout on Friday.

“Hopefully we’ll get a big crowd at Friday’s game with Waterford, because it has big implications as to who goes on to the state tournament,” Kilpatrick said. “Both of us have lost only one game, so going into the end of the season with one loss will make a big difference to a team with regard to making it into the playoffs.”