Baseball Diamond Reshaping Fairfield Hills

By Kendra Bobowick

Heavy machine operators have created the beginnings of a baseball diamond from mounds of soil and fill left behind after the recent Fairfield House demolition at Fairfield Hills. This week the push continued to complete the 90-foot diamond and seed the outfield with a hearty Kentucky Bluegrass by September 17.

In fact, seed may be down by this weekend

“We’re planning on seeding either Friday or Saturday,” said David Cravanzola, project manager with O&G Industries, Inc. “The goal is that the seed will root itself enough to make it through the winter.” Timing is everything if the field is going to be ready to welcome its first batter late next year. Once winter ends, the seed will have the spring to grow and mature.

“It will grow in for next fall and thicken over time,” Mr Cravanzola said. Much work remains before the project is completed, however. “We’ll be out there building the clay infield and [other] finishing touches,” said the project manager. Remaining work also includes fencing and placing team benches along the first and third base lines. Sod will be laid on the infield on the area surrounding the pitcher’s mound.

After the years of planning that have followed the town’s decision in 2001 to purchase and renovate Fairfield Hills, the redevelopment of the former state hospital campus is a welcome sight for Fairfield Hills Authority Chairman Robert Geckle.

Is he pleased to see the field taking shape? “Very much so,” he said. So far, the field work is on schedule.

Working closely with crews installing the baselines and outfield is Assistant Director of Parks Carl Samuelson. During a Parks and Recreation Commission meeting Tuesday evening, he said: “Field construction is going really well.” At the same time, he said, “some unexpected snags” have prompted “a few field changes … but during a project of this scope and size [problems] are expected, but the changes are for the better.”

Specifically, water line locations were a problem. “They were closer to the surface than we expected and we needed to lower them to keep them from freezing,” Mr Samuelson explained, before adding that some utilities were either higher or lower than anticipated.

Water pressure was another hurdle.

“We ran into trouble with the pump for the irrigation system — there was not enough pressure,” he explained. He ordered a new pump. 

Soil testing has Mr Samuelson on edge. He feels that upcoming drainage and pH tests should have been conducted prior to seeding. If the soil does not drain satisfactorily, sand will have to be mixed in. Seeding first is a gamble, he said. Parks and Recreation Commission Chairman Edward Marks admitted that he was also concerned about the soil sampling.

The recreation department hopes to begin using the field by the fall of 2008. Crews from Nagy Brothers Construction Company of Monroe are doing the field construction.