The Crimson Tide will open its football season at home against Windham in a big rematch of last year’s first-round playoff. The only caveat is that Concord won’t actually be playing at home, as the district is moving the game to National Guard Field in Pembroke.
The location for the game, still scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 4, was in limbo this summer after the city began demolishing the bleachers around the football field due to safety and accessibility deficiencies.
According to David Gill, director of Parks and Recreation, the recently completed work included a small interim press box, a PA system and lights, all of which are functioning and ready to host football games.
With the completion of the project and all the behind-the-scenes organizing needed to prepare for opening night, the school district and Athletic Director Steve Largy decided to move the game out of precaution.
“They’re pretty much ready to go now. That being said, it just felt like a very quick turnaround with a lot of things up in the air,” Largy said.
While the National Guard Field has fresh artificial turf and bright lights, students would prefer to play at home, Superintendent Tim Herbert told Concord’s school board Tuesday.
With not only football season but spring sports and events like graduation on the schedule, the board was motivated to get some kind of spectator seating at Memorial Field.
Its members authorized up to $90,000 from its facilities trust fund to purchase used bleachers, which would be moveable over time. The district’s goal is to use the bleachers at fields at the new middle school – if they’ll fit on the condensed sidelines – in which case money from the construction bond could reimburse the purchase.
Largy said he’d found an option for $75,000 plus transport costs. A six-week rental, covering just football season, would be about a third that rate. Ultimately, the board decided buying outright was a better financial decision.
Continuing the string of changes planned for Memorial Field, on Thursday, the Joint City-School Memorial Field Planning Committee will host a public meeting at the City Wide Community Center at 5:30 p.m.
This will be the committee’s ninth meeting since March 1 2025, as the city and school have worked to come up with a plan that suits the needs of Concord athletics and the public’s recreation at-large.
David Gill said that consultants will be in attendance to answer questions from the committee as they try to finalize a master plan for the site.
A lot has happened since the last few meetings: the track was deemed unsafe for competition, and over two hundred trees, football bleachers and baseball bleachers came down at Memorial Field. The place has changed vastly from what it looked like just last fall.
As Concord football prepares for the Friday night lights at National Guard Field, the future of its home will be debated the afternoon before.
