For its second project since it started just over three years ago, the
St. Paul Parks Conservancy will tackle the outdoor ballfields--the last round of facility improvements at the
Oxford Community Center (Jimmy Lee).
(As a part of its initial project, the conservancy was instrumental in getting various
landscape-related enhancements for
Lilydale Regional Park. )
Leslie Cook, the nonprofit's interim executive director, describes the center, which was a training ground for baseball greats
Dave Winfield,
Paul Molitor and
Joe Mauer, as the "crown jewel of recreational centers in the city."
In
2008, the $15 million new building at the Oxford Community Center,
which is centrally located in the Rondo neighborhood, opened with a new
water park, meeting rooms, "teaching kitchen" for healthy eating, two
multi-sports courts, sprung dance floor, and exercise room. "It's a great
resource for that area," she says.
But during field
construction on the facility's north side, heavy metals were found in
the soil, which led to its closure in March 2010. The site's
contamination was an unexpected stumbling block.
As
a result, children who play on teams that would use the field have to be bused to
other locations. "We're adding this energy element the longer we put it
off," she says.
Despite the momentum around it, the project
likely would've been postponed for some time by the city, but the board
thought it was important. "It was close to be being a completed amenity
and the board thought it should step up and make it happen."
The
MPCA and EPA began remediation work earlier this month while the
conservancy is trying to raise $361,000�the gap left in the $1 million
project by the contamination�for the field lighting, multi-sport
synthetic turf markings, goal posts, backstops, and drinking fountains,
according to the website.
It will accommodate football, soccer,
baseball, softball, and more. The synthetic turf field will have a
drainage system that will make the fields usable even after it rains, she
says.
Source: Leslie Cook, interim executive director, St. Paul Parks Conservancy
Writer: Anna Pratt