WAUPUN – Baseball fever in Waupun is growing among kids, coaches and fans as construction workers press ahead to complete by spring a $2.2 million sports complex featuring four state-of-the-art baseball diamonds.
“There are three little league fields and one varsity field going in,†said Waupun Little League President Kent VandeKlok. “We hope everything will be ready in time for an opening day ceremony May 12.â€
VandeKlok said 29 teams with 310 players make up the Waupun Little League, which includes players from 4 to 14 years old.
“There are two diamonds at Howard’s Field but there are ongoing flooding problems,†he said. The new fields will have artificial surface on all infields making it the best in the Midwest. With this surface we can have two inches of rain, and can play a half-hour later.â€
VandeKlok said because of flooding at Howard’s field, Waupun has lost out on tournaments and last year had to play several times on the girl’s softball field.
“But we will continue to use Howard’s field for practices and extra games,†he said.
Kevin DeBoer, the varsity baseball coach at Waupun High School, said, “After 17 years of coaching baseball in the Waupun School District it has been amazing to see the support of the school district and community for youth and high school athletics.
“We have 26 scheduled games beginning March 27, 2012, and running through the first week in June. Of our 26 games, 14 contests are nonconference games. Eleven of the 14 teams wanted to come to Waupun to play due to the new facility,†he said.
DeBoer said Waupun is also hosting an eight-team Division 2 bash, which includes eight of the preseason top 20 ranked teams in Wisconsin.
“The tournament will run April 13 to 14 and is a great opportunity to watch some quality baseball,†he said.
Speaking of sports in Waupun, DeBoer said the development of Little League Baseball, youth football, soccer, hockey, volleyball, softball and hoopsters basketball allows parents the ability to enroll their children in quality athletic programs that help teach important concepts, such as teamwork, sportsmanship, fair play and dedication as well as appropriately dealing with success and failure, which is crucial in developing a well-rounded adult for the community of Waupun.
“And with the involvement of countless volunteers that spend hours working with the youth and young adults of our community we are developing an atmosphere that people would like to raise their children in,†DeBoer said.
City administrator Kyle Clark said costs for the sports complex at 802 Lincoln St. along with the present continuation of Shaler Drive at the corner of Lincoln Street to the corner of Mayfair and Watertown streets, is being made from development within those districts. He said there is no tax increase, and that repayment is refinanced from TIF #1 and TIF #5 funds.
Publicworks director Dick Flynn said the public is also contributing to the complex.
“So far we’ve received about $18,000 in donations,†he said. “People can donate ‘in memory of’ or ‘in honor of’ and larger donations will have the contributors name engraved on a plaque at the entrance to the sports complex.
Source: HK Sports
Evansville is spending triple that because it’s not about the ball fields or the parks… the ugly truth is it’s about the spending itself! Spending money is not the means, it IS the END!
The politicians pulling for this crap don’t care if you build a bunch of free-standing artistic renderings of Looney Tunes characters so long as they are spending someone else’s money on it and get to claim they are hot shit because of it. They probably go home and masturbate in the mirror repeating to themselves “I am the MAN” after a hard day spending someone else’s money.
Personally, I’d even call the Wisconsin ball complex excessive seeing as they are proposing putting artificial turf on the infields of a public baseball field. When I was a kid, we played on dirt infields and had a great time. I think they hired Joe Bob the Bushwhacker to cut the grass, and we didn’t see the difference.
Here is what Lemonweir, WI is getting for $20 million:
A $20 million, 200-acre project could bring 1,200 athletes to the Mauston area each week for training and tournaments and employ 70 people.
The proposed Woodside Sports Complex have up to 17 baseball fields and 7 soccer fields, would also include dormitories for 1,500 players and coaches, a 30,000-square-foot indoor training facility and its own wastewater treatment plant.
http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/article_1926fe82-fd84-11de-9880-001cc4c002e0.html
Evansville leadership doesn’t place much value on other people’s money. The best solutions and the most cost-efficient options are overlooked in favor of an “I want that!” response.
The artificial turf infields likely result in lower maintence costs which would make that a good option.
What we have and have had for the last 3 administrations including this one is a bunch of over educated suits with no common sense or ethics running our city. This group and the last 2 administrations couldn’t pour piss out of a boot with the instructions on the heel. None of the last 3 administration’s (Lloyd, Weinzapfel, Winnecke would know a Baby Ruth bar from a turd. Williams will be no better maybe worse. Until someone runs and wins who has a nickel’s worth of common sense and actually cares about the citizens of this city we will continue down this path to financial ruin. What we actually need is someone with less education some common sense and knows right from wrong not a PR man from a bank who just pretends to be the Mayor. Where is that individual who will stand up for the common man I would vote for him tomorrow and would hope so would the rest of the voters in this city. Wake up before it is too late.
Is there anything in this proposal that will prevent an approval to build and when they can’t decide where to put it or cannot afford land elsewhere, the powers that be decide that Robert’s Park is the best place? I’m just saying…..and yes, I am aware that this mayor and this group has no intention… currently, to place it there. But, is there a back door someone has left open? better safe than sorry…..again.
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