Cahill Park Renovation Plans Get Public Airing

The Friends of Bay Baseball organization unveiled their Cahill Park renovation plans to the public late Thursday.

The renovations come as a necessity due to a major sewer upgrade that will take place in 2013. The campaign to improve the baseball field has been led by the Friends of Bay Baseball organization, headed by Carl Fuda.

"When we heard this thing was being rebuilt, we thought, 'You know, why don't we get a public/private partnership going with the village, work with the school district and improve the field?" said Fuda.

Friends of Bay Baseball is an entity that has existed for two decades to support Whitefish Bay High School baseball.

The park renovations will be funded in a public/private partnership with the funds still needing to be raised. A conceptual design for the field was presented by representatives from FOBB and the village at the Cahill Warming House on Thursday.

Key components of the upgrade include:

• An infield with modern field turf.
• Resurfacing and improvement of other field areas.
• Major upgrades to all practice facilities, including batting cages and pitching mounds.
• A new dugout and new scoreboard

Fuda said he feels the field will have positive effects. "I think if we can get everything, it can as successful as the football/soccer field. I think it's quite an asset to the community that will remain for decades," said Fuda.

The conceptual design will still need to pass through committee. If approved, 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.

(Correction: This story was updated at 5:24 p.m. on Nov. 6 to reflect that a representative from the Whitefish Bay School District was not present at the meeting, as stated in an earlier version of this article.)