To the editor:
This is an open letter to New England Patriots principal owner Robert Kraft:
I am part of a small group of people that make up The Newell Stadium Committee. For years we have been organizing efforts to rebuild the dilapidated high school stadium in Gloucester.
At a recent meeting, after a major breakthrough, we were all joyfully planning the start of the rebuilding process. Demolition crews were ready to go. Pilings were scheduled to be poured, and all contractors, plumbers, electricians, landscapers, etc. were booked.
Committee members were delegated different tasks, such as organizing the opening ceremonies with the School Department, invitations to politiciansand dignitaries, press releases and photographs for a grand opening to coincide with the start of the 2010 football season.
Then, all of a sudden, the phone rang, and I was snapped back into reality — I was only daydreaming.
Then another jolt hit me, as I read a headline from The Boston Globe, "$9 million in federal stimulus money approved to build elaborate footbridge for Gillette Stadium." The article goes on to mention that you are a billionaire, that's with a B. Most of us Patriots fans already figured that out. But the Globe needed to stick that point in. Perhaps because no matter how you spin it, it's just not right.
The fact is we are just like many other cities and towns with depleting budgets, broken infrastructures, worn-down schools, public buildings, and roadways. Rebuilding our stadium is probably last on the so-called wish list, making it more like a luxury than necessity — until, of course, it crumbles to the ground and is forced to close, which may not be that far off. So we must count on grass-root efforts like donations and fundraisers.
The reason I am writing you is that we also applied for the federal stimulus money to rebuild the stadium and other much needed rebuilding projects. Perhaps we got our hopes up too high, but it sure seemed like a worthy project. I don't want to begin to try to figure out how the money is actually divvied up. You may have to be smarter than a rocket scientist to understand that process. Or perhaps it may not be as complicated as we think.
One thing I am sure of when looking at the whole picture at face value, it just doesn't seem fair to give federal stimulus money to build something for the benefit — partial or otherwise — of billionaire company.
This is not to criticize you or your company, team, or family. You have worked very hard and many, many people admire all of your accomplishments.
So here's my request. Could you see it in your heart when the $9 million check comes, could you do with only $7 million for the foot bridge and send $2 million to the city of Gloucester to rebuild Newell Stadium?
After all, everybody has a dream. Remember ,once you and I dreamed the Patriots would win a Super Bowl.
Joseph P. Guzzo
Gloucester
Editor's note: Guzzo is the city plumbing inspector.
