An ambitious and long-awaited upgrade to a number of county parks should get underway within a few weeks.
But nobody can say exactly when the improvements at baseball and softball fields will begin, Bartholomew County Parks Director Rich Day said. That will depend largely on the weather, he said.
Bartholomew County commissioners approved a bid Jan. 23 for installation of a nearly $1 million lighting system for the four ball diamonds at Dunn Stadium, just north of the county fairgrounds. The new lights will be paid for from discretionary federal funds obtained through the federal American Rescue Plan.
But elected officials were also told in January only two windows of opportunity without games and tournaments would be available when the lights could be installed, in March and in August.
The $936,000 lighting system for Dunn will be installed by Custer Electric, Inc., a sports-lighting specialist in Rushville. Day anticipates significant improvements over the current system, which he says has a number of dim lights out of alignment that are attached to deteriorating wood poles.
According to plans outlined early this year, the conventional lights installed 34 years ago will be replaced by LED lights firmly attached to metal poles. The lights will be positioned 75 feet above the playing fields, while the current lights go up a little over 60 feet, the county parks director said.
“You are going to have better lighting, you’ll be able to see the ball easier, and (with the LED bulbs) it’s going to be 60% less electric usage,” Day said.
But it will be the installation of ‘BallTracker’ technology during night games that will make the most visible improvement. Also known as up-lighting, BallTracker provides low-level, targeted light that is emitted upward, Day said.
Another improvement is the development of a new grass program, but the parks director says ball players might not see the results for some time.
“It’s a slow process,” Day said. “It will take some time to get it fixed, but we are getting there.”
While a decision has been made to do the installation this spring, Day said he’s also excited about upgrades at practice ball diamonds located in Wayne, Petersville and Rock Creek parks.
At those three parks, as well as Dunn, an infield mix is being brought in, Day said. The specially-treated blend of sand, clay and silt is often used to construct new infields or raise low infields.
But from the parks director’s perspective, the most important reason to put down a new infield mix at four parks is to make the playing fields safe and playable.
“We have to upgrade these fields in our outlying parks because teams need a place to go practice,” Day said. “I want these kids to be able to slide without tearing up their bottoms, or dive for a ball without getting scratched up.”
The Bartholomew County commissioners have accepted the low bid of $17,572 to supply 144 tons of the mix. The winning bidder, Advanced Turf Solutions of Fishers, has agreed to make the mix out of specifications provided by the county parks department, Day said.
But there’s a potential problem. Day says our region must have at least three consecutive days without precipitation before the six truckloads of infield mix can be brought in. If we get a long rainy spell, improvements could be put on hold until sometime in April, Day said.
In recent years, teams consisting of about 500 kids have both practiced and played at CERAland, a private park on County Road 525E. But the heavy use resulted in enough damage that CERAland was forced to limit each team to one practice a week, the parks director said.
Two truckloads of the infield mix will be brought to Dunn Stadium, while the same amount is earmarked for two diamonds in Wayne Park, Day said. One truckload will be utilized at Petersville Park, while another will be used at Rock Creek Park, he added.
