The makeover begins

By MARK MAYNARD - The Independent

ASHLAND July 23, 2008 12:07 am

— The long-awaited renovation project for Central Park’s main baseball diamond is under way.
Crews have been tearing down the dugouts and press box. It’s expected to take about 60 days to finish.
“We actually started last Monday,” said City Recreation Director Sean Murray. “We’re clearing the way for Phase 1, taking down the existing fence and bringing that forward. Games are still being played.”
Both Ashland Post 76 and the Ashland Adult League have still be able to keep their scheduled games as construction goes on around them, Murray said.
Makeshift dugouts will be set up with park benches until the construction is completed.
“Everybody seems to be pleased,” Murray said. “The contractors have been able to work with us (on the scheduling). It’s exciting for them (the players) to see it being built around them.
“We want to do it right the first time. I think that’s happening.”
The project has been about a year in the making. Last summer, Ashland native Gary Wright donated $125,000 to kick-start the project.
Wright’s donation only covered Phase 1 of the project. That includes a showplace of a press box, which will be named in memory of Wright’s father, T.R. Wright. That was the only condition Gary Wright had for donating the money.
The press box will be two stories with a storage room, a changing room for umpires, a level for scorekeepers and media and a second level for scouting.
It will be a split-face block structure. Also, there will be a matching retaining wall that will connect the press box to the new dugouts.
The existing press box will be taken down and the new press box centered behind home plate. The former building was a little to the first base side of the plate.
Wright’s vision for the field is to make it the best baseball facility in the area. He is a former Ashland Tomcat baseball player in the late 1950s and early 1960s. While growing up, Wright’s father was instrumental in helping start youth leagues in Ashland.
Phase 2 of the project will include rebuilding the dugouts. Murray said some of the city workers have built them before and can provide some expertise in that area, saving money in the process.
Phase 3 includes landscaping and bleachers. Instead of permanent bleachers, concrete pads will be laid and portable aluminum bleachers used during the season. They can be moved for other events when baseball isn’t being played.
There will be added green space at the park when the revamping is finished, Murray said. The landscaping will include covering some exposed roots and hazardous drain areas, he said.
Wright is planning a reunion of Central Park alum at 1:30 p.m. on Aug. 23. A documentary on the field’s history has also been started by David Carter and there’s a Web site — cp-1.org — devoted to the park field.
MARK MAYNARD can be reached at mmaynard@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2648.

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