|
By Susan Bush
Berkshire Eagle Staff
CHESHIRE -- Site options for construction of the Quinn Connally
Memorial Sports Facility have been narrowed to three, according
to Stephen Connally, leader of Quinn's Legacy Foundation
Inc. Connally is the father of Quinn Connally, who was killed
at the age of 12 while at a hockey practice in December 2000.
Quinn died after being struck by a hockey puck.
Connally said he could not disclose the locations under consideration,
but did say none of the possible sites were in North Berkshire.
"We're talking to a few folks and we're down to about
three options," Connally said yesterday. "We want
to stay south of [Pittsfield's] Park Square. We're very close.
The lawyers have the papers and final adjustments are being
made."
Connally declined to specify a time frame for announcing
the selected location.
Plans to erect the estimated $8 million arena on a 25-acre
parcel off Dan Fox Drive in Pittsfield fell through in July.
Details of a financial package for arena construction could
not be completed before the expiration of a July 1 option
to acquire the property, which was being donated by the Berkshire
Chamber of Commerce and Del Alba Realty. The chamber had
granted the option in 2001.
As of July, the foundation had raised about $300,000 toward
the project. Ice Builders Inc., of Liverpool, N.Y., has been
selected to erect the arena, now likely to be a smaller facility
than the 3,000-seat venue initially planned.
Tomorrow morning, the third annual Quinn's Legacy Foundation "Skate-Bike-Walk-Run-a-Thon" will
kick off at 11 from the Ashuwillticook Trail at Farnums Crossing
in Cheshire.
Registration for the fund-raiser begins at 10, and Connally
said he hopes for strong participation. Over the past two
years, the event has raised over $18,000 for the foundation.
In addition to trekking the trail and watching performances
by clowns, magicians and a D.J., participants will be able
to buy raffle tickets for items such as a shirt autographed
by Detroit Red Wings hockey player Darrin McCarty.
"Quinn took his [McCarty's] number when he played hockey," Con-nally
said.
Connally said he knows this weekend is a busy, end-of-summer
time for most families, but said he hoped folks would come
out to remember Quinn and support the foundation.
"If people have an opportunity to come out, we'd love
to see them," Connally said.
Representatives of the New England Organ Bank are expected
to attend, Connally said. After Quinn's death, his organs
were donated to people across the country. In July, Connally,
his wife Ann and daughter Tessa were honored at the Statehouse
by the Boston Celtics as "Heroes Among Us" for
the donation of Quinn's heart, liver, pancreas and a kidney.
"This is something people should think about," Connally
said. "The thing to think about is if you are willing
to take an organ to save a life, you should be willing to
give an organ to save a life."
The sports facility will serve as a multi-sport and recreation
arena for youth and will offer athletic, academic and mentoring
programs for youth living in Massachusetts, Connecticut and
New York, according to information provided by the foundation.
Connally said engaging children in sports and other activities
can produce positive results, as experienced by Quinn and
his parents.
"Quinn had dyslexia [a reading disorder], and that's
what we lived," Connally said. "Hockey helped him
deal with it. Hockey helped with coordination, self-esteem
and confidence. He [Quinn] struggled to read but he always
raised his hand in class to read aloud, struggling and stumbling
over the words. But he did it, and hockey gave him that."
The planned facility will focus on much more than hockey
skills, Connally said.
"I don't expect every kid will play hockey," Connally
continued. "There are a lot of things we can do to help
kids find their thing, be it music, art or sports."
Connally said that while not considering the Vietnam Veteran's
Memorial Skating Rink as a facility site, he believes the
rink should stay open. Officials of the Massachusetts College
of Liberal Arts, which manages the rink for the state, have
said they may discontinue rink management next year.
"The rink needs to stay open and remain viable," he
said, hinting that the foundation may offer assistance of
some type to the rink at a future time.
"We may be helping with that later on," Connally
said.
|
