Kingston Mayor Steve Noble is hoping to give a little care to a beloved century-old stadium. He’s on a mission to secure funding for repairs and improvements to Robert Dietz Memorial Stadium.

“The stadium is widely loved; it's heavily used. But as you can see, [it] is starting to show its age,” says Noble.

The $18.6 million project will put down new turf, add an updated scoreboard, improve the grandstand and the locker rooms and other things. He is asking the Common Council to fund a bond of less than $14 million to help fund the major project.

“We applied for funding, as part of our Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant, to be able to make major improvements here,” says Noble.

Dan Reinhard, a commentator at Dietz Stadium for 50 years, says Noble’s announcement is a win for athletes and visitors to the complex.

“The stadium has been put through the paces for so many years,” says Reinhard. “It's great for the mayor to have this press conference … to announce that the renovations are going to start at Dietz Stadium.”

The facility has been home to a variety of sports for 100 years and has been the home field for Kingston High School since the 1950s.

“I can remember when it was [a] hay grass field, and doing football games if it was a rainy or snowy day,” says Reinhard. “There was a lot of sliding, a lot of mud, a lot of dirty uniforms on the football field.”

He says for the stadium to attract championship games and other events it held in the past, the facility needs to be brought into the present.

“With these improvements, we will be able to attract more of that economic development opportunity to be able to bring more sales tax to our facility into our county, and to be able to make sure that this facility is going to be around for the next generation,” Noble says.

Reinhard and Noble hope the renovations to the stadium will continue to be a legacy for its namesake, SSgt. Robert H. Dietz, a World War II veteran.

Once funding is approved by the council, construction can begin in 2022.