MAPLETON - Council has received Ontario Trillium Foundation community building funding of $234,500 for the upgrades to the Drayton baseball field.
At Tuesday’s meeting, council received the $234,500 funding for the installation of new lighting, as well as some updated renovations for the concession booth for the Drayton baseball field.
“I am happy to announce that right around Christmas, we were approved of this funding that I applied for back in September, which is for the updated renovations for the baseball field in Drayton,” said Lucas Rogerson, manager of parks, cemeteries and facilities for the township.
“Earlier last week, we met with our liaison with the Ontario Trillium Foundation and we got the contract signed. I’ve been in contact with local contractors, so the money will be staying directly in the township which will be a $234,000 surge to the local economy.”
The funding will be able to kickstart the renovation project which will include:
- Installation new outdoor field lighting, which will be LED lights and standards, at Drayton 'B' diamond
- Replace existing concession booth serving windows with new security roll-up doors
- Replace damaged doors with new accessible security doors at concession stand and update siding to prevent water damage
- Add surfacing, otherwise known as screenings, to ball diamond infields and warning tracks
- Replace wood on bleachers
- Replace dugout benches on 'A' diamond
A total of $45,000 will be used for construction costs such as contractor costs and installation costs; $169,500 will be used to buy the outdoor Spartan sport lighting for the baseball diamond; $10,000 will be used for administration and professional fees as well as permits; and $10,000 will be used for the Ontario builds signage.
“A lot of people would say that the B diamond would be the nicer one out of the two diamonds in Drayton, so the fact that there will be new lighting there would be amazing,” said Coun. Michael Martin.
“With this Spartan style lighting, will it cause any issues with regards to dark spots or will it eliminate that?”
Rogerson explained that Spartan will design the outdoor lighting directly and a lot more fixtures and lighting will be applied, noting that it will give a full coverage of lighting.
He also noted that renovations will begin on March 7, and will approximately end before the 2022 baseball season.
