Youth baseball fields at Avondale Park and the Kate Wagner fields in Westminster are being overhauled this fall, part of a multiyear plan to upgrade the facilities.
The Westminster Area Recreation Council, the volunteer group that runs youth sports programs in the Westminster area, credited contractor Badger Services with the work in a Facebook post. The rec council said the project is paid for through fundraising by the Westminster Baseball Association combined with self-help funding from Carroll County Recreation and Parks and Carroll County Government.
Josh Gold, president of the rec council, told Westminster Wire in an email that it is “one of the largest projects ever done using self-help funds.” He said the work goes beyond cleaning up and regrading the fields. It also includes improvements to the areas around the fields “to make things safer for players, coaches, and families.”
The rec council’s post also thanked Will Brozy of the county’s Recreation and Parks department for getting the projects approved and moving quickly. The fields are expected to be ready when players return this spring, according to the rec council.
A multiyear plan
The work is part of a multiphase field improvement project, according to details the Westminster Baseball Association provided to Westminster Wire.
In the first phase, infield dirt mix was delivered to five fields through a county self-help project: 70 tons to Kate Wagner Park, 45 tons each to Landon C. Burns Park and Winters Mill High School, 25 tons to Avondale Park and 20 tons to Bennett Cerf Park. The baseball association was responsible for spreading and grading the dirt, according to the association.
Piles of infield dirt sit on a baseball diamond at the Kate Wagner fields in Westminster, where the Westminster Baseball Association and Carroll County Recreation and Parks are rebuilding the fields ahead of the spring season.
The second phase, happening this fall, brings field dimensions in line with Little League Baseball standards, the association said. Future phases, with no set timeline, include new or replacement dugouts and field scoreboards.
“Our fields were not up to the standards that we want to develop our youth on,” said Teresa Griese, president of the Westminster Baseball Association.
Griese credited George Bowers, vice president of the association, who she said “has spent countless hours walking the fields, meeting with county officials and vendors.” She said Bowers has also worked with vendors on upgrading dugouts at most of the association’s fields in the next phase.
The association’s fundraising began in the spring with its Opening Day event and continued through a Snap! Raise online drive, a summer Wiffle ball league and community events, Griese said.
How self-help funding works
Under the county’s self-help program, recreation councils can pay for park improvements without going through the county’s regular capital budget process. The county contributes $3 for every $1 a rec council raises, plus $10 for every hour volunteers put into a project. Rec councils present their requests to the county’s Recreation and Parks Advisory Board each February and September.
Gold said the county sets aside money for these projects every year, but the amount changes and there’s no telling how many groups will apply, “so projects this big don’t happen very often.”
What’s next
Recreation and Parks plans to regrade and reseed the baseball fields at Landon C. Burns Park, with work expected to start later this month or early next month, Christine Cambareri, the county’s interim deputy county administrator, told Westminster Wire in an email.
The county is also starting a broader look at its athletic fields. A new Park Field Restoration Funding Advisory Subcommittee, made up of representatives from each of the county’s eight recreation councils, will identify fields in county parks that need improvements, Cambareri said. The project has $5 million in funding. The subcommittee held its first meeting Nov. 9 and will now begin evaluating fields together, she said.
For Westminster, Gold said one of the rec council’s biggest priorities is getting lights installed at Kate Wagner. He said the group also has “a pretty good list” of other projects it would like to see over the next five to 10 years.
“Hopefully, this is just the start of more good things for our parks and programs,” Gold wrote.