Board Chairman Ben Boykin, long-time Mount Vernon Legislator and soon-to-be Mount Vernon City Court Judge Lyndon Williams, together with Board Majority Leader MaryJane Shimsky, and Legislators David Tubiolo, Terry Clements, Vedat Gashi, and Ruth Walter, proudly joined County Executive George Latimer, Mount Vernon Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard, Assemblyman Gary Pretlow, and others for a groundbreaking ceremony marking the beginning of a long-awaited project to restore Mount Vernon's Memorial Field.

The Board approved County funding for the project in April, allowing the work to begin. The restoration, long championed by Legislator Williams, will end more than a decade of delays for the project.

Below are some photos from the happy occasion.

You can watch video of the event at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA0Lm9-cokc

Read the press release from the County Executive's office at: https://www.westchestergov.com/home/all-press-releases/8588-moving-mount-vernon-forward-county-executive-george-latimer-mayor-shawyn-patterson-howard-landtek-vp-of-pr-marketing-and-new-york-jets-legend-marty-lyons-break-ground-on-memorial-field-reconstruction-project

The restoration will create a new, lighted, multi-sport and evens venue with an NCAA-regulation football field also suitable for soccer, lacrosse, and field hockey; a New York State Public High School Athletic Association-certified, eight-lane track; a skateboard park; three tennis courts; a 3,900-seat grandstand; modern locker rooms, bathrooms and other facilities.

When the Board passed the funding for the project last April, Legislator Williams said, "A reborn Memorial Field will be an emblem of pride for Mount Vernon and all of Westchester County. It will provide the city's 70,000 residents with a distinguished athletic and recreational space that is desperately needed in one of the nation's most densely populated cities. And it will return to the people of Westchester the kind of facility that will host to important local and regional athletic and cultural events. I would like to thank County Executive George Latimer and my colleagues on the Board of Legislators, State Assemblyman J. Gary Pretlow as well as Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard for working together to get this done. Along this gloomy path of the coronavirus pandemic, I’m proud that this partnership of State, County, and City sends a positive message of hope and encouragement to a struggling community about the future.”