BDN MAINE SPECIAL SECTION • BANGORDAILYNEWS.COM • February 28, 2013
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A DAY IN THE LIFE: BREWER
Doyle Field ready for renovations Doyle Field is a lighted football and softball field with stadium seating for 1,500. The site is used for everything from sports to day camps to sliding to skating. Donated by the family of fire chief “Dicky” Doyle in 1928, Doyle Field has been a community center for 85 years. It’s adjacent to the Brewer Auditorium, located between Wilson and State Streets. In recent years, more than just sports have happened there, but the field is deteriorating. Currently, a committee is working to raise about $1.4 million to renovate the field. Most of the money will go towards earthwork and drainage and the installation of artificial turf — necessary because the field doesn’t drain well and is often unusable. Sports practices are often canceled, and games are relocated to other towns at expense to the city. Other expenses include chain-link fencing, a new press box with public restrooms, and possibly upgraded lighting. The field has seen increased use in recent years, but there is an impasse: without improvements, the field can’t be used for more events. The committee and, based on a survey, the community, feels the field can attract more events to Brewer once the renovations are done. The donation of the land to the city came with conditions that it forever be named Doyle Field, and that the land always be used for the community good. —David M. Fitzpatrick, Special Sections
Image courtesy WBRC Architect & Engineers
Concept art of what the renovated Doyle Field might look like.