MAJOR IMPROVMENTS AT WHALEY PARK FOR 2014 SEASON Over the past year and half, the LBP Board has been working with the City of Long Beach to bring some much needed improvements to the Whaley Park baseball field. After creating a vision document and presenting it to Councilman Patrick ODonnell, we soon found ourselves sitting in front of the City of Long Beach Parks Director George Chapjian, presenting an enhanced version of the same vision document. It was well received, and everyone was in agreement on the quality of the plan… all that was lacking was some funding. In June, we received word that Councilman ODonnell had allocated $300K for Whaley Park improvements, and we began busy few weeks walking through the specifics of the plan and walking around Whaley Park to see where everything fit in. Then we waited for the Fall Ball season to wind down, and for a final review session with the city. We were invited to meet with the city on Thursday morning (11/7), and were presented with the formal Phase 1 plans by City Park Development Officer Anna Mendiola. We were very impressed by the level of work that had been done and the scale of the effort required to produce the plans that were presented. We were able to fine tune those plans to our specific needs, and are extremely proud to share the details with you here: Included in Phase 1 are the following items: • Brand New Fencing & Backstop - The old fence will be fully removed and replaced with a new fence, the wood planks will be replaced by cinder-block bricks around home plate between the dugouts. The extended fence will be 12 high and extend from the dugout down the line to the HR fence line. • Brand New Dugouts - the new dugouts will be 9 deep, and will feature a roof, 2 level bench with storage, bat rack, and vinyl covering on all three sides. There will be 2 dugout openings. • New Bullpens - the new bullpens will be connected to the dugouts and extend out towards the outfield fence. There will be an entrance directly from the dugout, and there will be 2 mounds and plates for 2 pitchers to work at the same time. The 12 x 72 bullpens will be enclosed by 12 fences ---- Phase 2 will items will include some of the following, based on remaining funds available: • Batting Cages • Outfield Grass replacement • Snack Bar and Storage Structure • Grass Infield • New Scoreboard Phase 2 will not be started until after our Spring Season and All-Star hosting events have been completed. We will be working to obtain additional corporate donors, and other fundraising methods to ensure that all of the items on the list get done soon. If you have any ideas how you can help out, or if you can direct any possible donors our way, please contact league Vice President Fred Abdelnour, ASAP! It will be a very exciting Opening Day when we take the field after the upgrades have been completed. However, we must also understand the realities of a project of this scale, and develop a risk mitigation plan in case the project runs longer than expected. The Board of Directors is doing just that, and we will share details of that plan when it becomes appropriate. In the mean time, we must be prepared to make minor adjustments from the norm during the lead-up to tryouts, during February for practice, and possibly into the start of the 2014 Spring season. Whatever the course of action we wind up having to take, it will be done with a solid focus on what is best for the members of Long Beach Pony, the City of Long Beach, and Whaley Parks historic role in our nearly 60 years with PONY baseball! A great big THANK YOU to the LBP Board of Directors for their tireless effort to make this dream a reality. LETS GO LONG BEACH!
Posted on: Tue, 12 Nov 2013 00:29:03 +0000