The College of St. Rose has received a $1 million "challenge gift" to be used to update Hoffman Park with athletic fields that will serve as the home fields for college teams.

The gift from Joseph J. Plumeri II, chairman and CEO of Willis Group Holdings Ltd., a global insurance brokerage firm, and owner of the Trenton Thunder, the New York Yankees' Class AA affiliate in the Eastern League, was announced at a news conference this morning.

The gift must be matched by money raised by the college, and college president Mark Sullivan said such efforts are already under way, though he wouldn't say how much has been raised already.

The college and city announced in June 2007 a public-private partnership to develop new natural grass baseball and softball fields, a synthetic turf multipurpose field for soccer and a natural turf practice soccer field in a relatively unused section of the park, which is located where Interstate 787 ends at Route 9W.

Under the partnership, the college would sign a 30-year lease for the fields, at a cost of $1 per year, and the fields would also be available to the community for summer recreational leagues, high school games, charity games and summer sports camps.