History

In January of 1963, Ben Cheney hosted an ambitious meeting to discuss building a tennis and swim club for Farmington residents.  With only a few tennis courts and pools in town, he, and a few of his friends and neighbors, felt the community needed this type of club.  The group organized an executive committee and secured a loan of $165,000 from the Farmington Savings Bank. 

The committee met faithfully every month that winter and weekly in the spring.  With money in hand, their first order of duty was to find a site.  The Trustees at the Hill-Stead Museum offered “the most beautiful tract in the whole town”-- 5.7 acres of their land on the newly built Hilltop Road.  A permit was filled out and permission to break ground was granted by the Town Planning Commission.

As with any construction project, challenges arose.  A ledge caused a relocation of the pool, the well needed to be dug deeper than expected, rock had to be blasted, and so on.   Other challenges arose such as surrounding neighbors objecting to the club due to fear of noise and traffic.  Membership was slow at first but offering memberships outside of Farmington soon filled the 150 limit of families. 

On July 24, 1964, the Field Club opened.  On a very hot day, just a few days prior to opening day, several members were discovered dunking themselves into two feet of water in our painfully slow filling pool.  It was reported that the water was crystal clear, cold and refreshing. 

In the fall of 1964, Art Phinney started his presidency.  Lifeguards and tennis instructors were hired, interclub competitions began and thus, the Farmington Field Club became a reality. 

In 1983, the Children’s Classic Tennis Tournament became an annual event at the club.   Swim meets and marathon swims were added.  One of the most successful additions was in 1974 when Mr. John Grocki was added as our Club Manager, whose service, organization and dedication has been, and still is, an invaluable service to our wonderful club.