Bronx Community College (BCC) officials announced earlier this week that Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson, along with the Bronx delegation of the New York City Council and State of New York, awarded a $4 million capital funding investment to upgrade the College’s primary athletic field, the Ohio Track & Field.

BCC officials said an event took place on the field on Tuesday, Oct. 22, to celebrate the work of student athletes who joined together last spring to advocate for the funding, and the impact this project is expected to have on students and the community in the decades to come.

Interim BCC President Milton Santiago said with the latest upgrades, the athletic field will be a more attractive, modernized space that will positively impact the College’s athletic program for decades into the future. “Our athletic field also is used by the community, so we are excited to provide our neighbors and community partners with this upgraded facility,” he said. “We are confident this exciting project will help maximize our students’ experience – for not just student athletes, but for all students; assist w/BCC recruitment and retention, and also be good for the entire Bronx community.”

BCC officials said the capital funding will be used to transform the entire baseball field, soccer field, and track, with infrastructure upgrades including a new outdoor control booth and audio-visual components such as a new electronic digital scoreboard and LED field lights. They said the upgraded sound system also will be used for graduation, which takes place each May on Ohio Field.

City Councilman Oswald Feliz (C.D. 15), who represents some or all of the neighborhoods of Morrisania, Claremont Village-Claremont (East), Crotona Park East, Crotona Park, Mount Eden-Claremont (West), Claremont Park, Mount Hope, Fordham Heights, West Farms, Tremont, Belmont, University Heights (North)-Fordham, Bedford Park, Soundview-Bruckner-Bronx River, Pelham Parkway-Van Nest, Allerton, and Bronx Park, said the funding was not only a win for BCC students.

“[It is] also for the members of the Bronx community who get to enjoy the facilities through programming being offered. Bronx residents deserve to thrive and enjoy the new state of the art facilities that are being built at BCC,” he said. 

Meanwhile, City Councilman Eric Dinowitz, who broadly represents the Bronx neighborhoods of Norwood, Bedford Park, Kingsbridge Heights-Van Cortlandt Village, Kingsbridge, Riverdale-Spuyten Duyvil, Wakefield-Woodlawn, Woodlawn Cemetery, and Van Cortlandt Park, said in part, “As co-chair of the Bronx delegation and chair of the [city council] committee on higher education, I have made it my priority to tirelessly advocate for educational facility investments in The Bronx.” 

The former teacher added, “This investment represents an opportunity for BCC and CUNY to open itself up to community partnerships throughout our city, highlighting the values that CUNY holds. I am proud to have worked with my colleagues in the Bronx delegation to secure funding from the City Council. I also wish to thank Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, Speaker Adrienne Adams, and our colleagues in the State Legislature for making this a priority.”