Revamped Baseball Field Gets $150K in School District Funding

Plans for a new Cahill Park baseball field are likely to move forward now that the Whitefish Bay School Board has granted $150,000 to the $400,000 project.

The baseball field will be torn up next year for the storm water detention project the village plans to undertake. With the opportunity to renovate, Friends of Bay Baseball plans to install an artificial turf infield, a warning track, a natural grass outfield, a new scoreboard in right field, an improved concession stand and permanent concrete seating curved around the backstop area. Two dugouts are also planned.

School Board members wanted to make sure that their $150,000 contribution would specifically go toward the $250,000 price tag for installing an artificial turf infield, foul lines and a warning track. The board attached a 25-year usage agreement with the funds.

Friends of Bay Baseball would raise the remaining $100,000 for the turf piece of the project, and another $100,000 for amenities, such as the dugouts, scoreboard and concession facility.

By switching from natural grass infield to artificial turf, the School District will save $9,000 to $14,000 per year in maintenance costs needed to maintain a safe playing field, said Shawn Yde, the district's business manager. The field is also used by the rugby, U-9 soccer and other soccer teams.

"When you get 10 years into this, you're actually going to be saving money," Yde said.

Additionally, artificial turf will reduce – if not eliminate – the need for pesticides, which are mostly used in the infield. Artificial turf is also better-suited to handle heavy usage, especially in rainy weather.

The School Board voted 4-1 to grant the money, with Anne Berleman Kearney voting against. Marie Greco and Michael Mosner were absent.

Kearney said the price tag was too high, and she didn't feel confident that the school district would have enough control over a project that was happening on village-owned land.

"We have a lot of other maintenance things that are coming up, and this troubles me," Kearney said. "Maybe the idea is that we give less than $150,000. It certainly doesn't say in stone that we have to give that."

Board President Kathy Rogers supported the contribution.

"I struggle with saying to kids 'You have to play on a less safe field because we don't own the field," Rogers said. "This is an opportunity we couldn't otherwise afford, to give our baseball students the same playing conditions that football and soccer players have."

Board member Jim Phillips was swayed by the reduced maintenance costs.

"We're making an investment with a return, as opposed to an expense that has no return," he said.

The Village Board has  to the field renovation. The village wlll also cover most infrastructure costs – such as field grading, irrigation, outfield sod and outfield fencing – as part of the $11 million Cahill storm water detention project.

Since forming in 1998, this is Friends of Bay Baseball's first request for public funds. Carl Fuda, speaking on behalf of Friends of Bay Baseball, said the group is 40 percent of the way to its $200,000 fundraising goal. Fuda said the group will not be requesting additional funds from the district if they fall short of their fundraising goal.

The Village Board approved the field's design earlier this month, and today, the village's Board of Appeals approved a variance for the dugouts, which do not meet setback requirements. The field renovation plan still requires approval from the village's Architectural Review Commission and Plan Commission.

If approved by all the village commissions, the construction would begin next year. The Whitefish Bay High School baseball team would have to practice elsewhere during the regular season and would host no home games.