The real kick-off, of course, comes two months later, as Eastside and Central meet for the stadium's Thanksgiving Day christening. It is a great day, immortalized in the famous postcard that inaugurates this website. Over 11,000 cityfolk turn out to see the hometown rivals play fierce football.
It takes two more years for the last construction details to be in place, and by then the Mayor announces the bottom line: nearly $250,000-a huge sum, equal to multi-millions now. But New Deal recovery programs have also given stadium-related jobs to 2,046 Paterson workers over those two years. And to the City Fathers who haven't forgotten the "paying investment" they've been promised, the Mayor can proudly say that a sum-total of 372,000 people having already either attended or taken part in events here. This new hub of city life is already running in the black.
But these are the ledger sheets, the mere nuts and bolts. The real story still lay before them. Because this was the living evidence of their commitment to the future: a glamorous new stadium, to become the scene of many long-dreamed-of sports accomplishments.
From that moment, nobody looked back. The taxpayers of Paterson knew it, and so did their kids: this great place called Hinchliffe Stadium would become its own reward.