Softball field improvements

The Oak Park softball team receives improvements

The Oak Park softball field is undergoing $43,000 renovations, paid for by the Measure S Bond.

According to the softball coach, Mike Best, the improvements made to the school’s softball field will result in a safer and more desirable playing field.

“Softball field renovations [include the installation of] a brand-new backstop, along with an extended fence, a laser graded sports field skin area, renovated edges of grass and skin areas, marked base fixtures, a whole new [junior varsity] field and more,” Best wrote to the Talon.

The previous field conditions caused many issues.

“These changes make for a better playing field and will greatly decrease the chance of foul balls and will also eliminate the unsafe playing surface,” Best wrote. “Uneven dirt or holes can cause a player to trip and fall. Also, without the new backstop, foul balls were being hit into the street and striking cars.”

According to the contractor hired by the district, the backstop was in no condition to support the mounting of additional posts. It was decided that completely replacing the backstop was the safest option.

“The coach requested that we make these improvements and then I went to our district maintenance people,” Assistant Principal Jason Meskis said. “We really wanted to get this done because the coach and I were worried that, if we didn’t do this now, it wasn’t going to get done and the problems [with the backstop and fencing] would still remain.”

Funding for the project was provided by the School Safety and Facilities OPUSD Bond. Depending on both the need for updated facilities and available funding sources, the costs of school athletic renovations vary greatly from year to year.

“We worked with the Measure S Bond money and that’s where we were able to get some funding,” Meskis said. “The varsity field improvements were $43,000. It was really nice that the district was able to do those projects for us because our sports programs do raise a lot of money on their own, but they can’t really afford to do something like that.”

While the field improvements have been completed, the installation of the backstop is still in process.

“There were two weeks when [the teams] didn’t have any home games so we utilized that time to get the work done,” Meskis said. “And the players were still able to practice while the improvements were being made.”