National Grid drew intense fire from Foxboro and state officials Tuesday for "energizing" parts of Route 1 - including Gillette Stadium and Patriot Place - before supplying power to senior housing. Seeing to seniors first is the town's priority, and local officials said they had no explanation for anxious residents."National Grid has done a stunningly poor job on this," Town Manager Kevin Paicos said during a briefing Tuesday. "We appear to be the most heavily impacted in the region," he added later. But selectmen Chairman Larry Harrington and Fire Chief Roger Hatfield said the stadium and Patriot organization did not jump the line to get power, and were taking extraordinary steps to help the town. "From everything we can find, the Patriots and the Kraft organization did nothing wrong," Hatfield said. "In fact they've done everything right as a good neighbor in getting resources that we could not get. This has been a huge asset to the community."The Kraft Group has offered to provide the town with two large generators, which will be installed at the Carl Annon Court and possibly Centennial Court senior housing complexes. The organization will also provide large amounts of ice, which was to be distributed outside the public safety building on Chestnut Street beginning at noon today. Many residents expressed anger at the Kraft organization and National Grid when they learned Gillette Stadium started getting power Monday night. However, none of that power came from the Foxboro substation that serves the rest of town, according to James Nolan, a senior vice president with the stadium and Patriots. Monday afternoon, buildings in the Route 1 complex were powered by generators, he said. The stadium returned to outside power around 8 p.m. Monday from electricity that came through a special line to the Wrentham substation. The Patriots spent millions of dollars when they built Gillette stadium to ensure the backup power, Nolan said, after suffering a blackout during the 1996 AFC championship game in the former stadium. At 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, Patriot Place began receiving power, along with some other businesses on Route 1, through that dedicated line from Wrentham. "We are still receiving no power from the Foxboro substation, and we have no information from National Grid as to when we will," Nolan said. With some 70,000 football fans expected to converge on Gillette Stadium Thursday night for the final New England Patriots preseason game against the New York Giants, town officials are concerned about public safety if power is not more widley restored. Police Chief Edward O'Leary said the Kraft Group will also provide six lighting towers to be placed at key intersections.
So Gillette Stadium is being powered by a "special line" from Wrentham? What the fuck is that? For anyone that hasn't driven through Foxboro in the past few days you missed out on pure chaos. Irene beat the piss out of this town. As of yesterday, none of the traffic lights worked and it seemed as if 95 percent of the business were shut down. I'm sure the residents of Foxboro who have had no power for days would like a little bit of that "special line" so they can see what the fuck they are doing tonight. Most likely the Krafts and Gillette Stadium did nothing wrong. But bottom-line it just doesn't look good when the entire town is in the dark and Patriot Place is lit up like a Christmas tree. But hey, at least the residents will get that sweet supply of free ice.
