As a second summer of construction wears on, the Annandale Recreation Park is gradually becoming a reality.
After dirt work, drainage, utilities and more underlying work was carried out last summer, contractors are now beginning to establish the ball fields and other amenities.
A gravel base has been established for the access road, the perimeter walking path and the parking lots, which are now nearly ready for paving. Baseball fields have clearly defined infields surrounded by black dirt outfields and sidelines.
Closer to the high school, the tennis courts have been paved and are awaiting the final finished playing surface.
Representatives from the Annandale School Board and Annandale City Council gathered for a joint powers meeting on Friday, June 23, to hear updates on the construction process.
"We’re way ahead of where we thought we might be when we started this project," said outgoing Superintendent Steve Niklaus, pointing out that last year it was unclear how much fencing could be included around the fields, and whether the access road would be paved. "Now it’s getting it to the finish line."
Timeline to play
The finish line will vary depending on the playing surface.
Niklaus said that four finish coatings will be added to the tennis courts in the Wednesday to Saturday, July 5-8, timeframe if weather allows. If that time period holds, the courts could be ready for action around July 13-14.
"For the tennis team, and for a lot of people in town who are tennis players – particularly a lot of seasonal players who have long looked for tennis courts out here where they have their summer homes – in mid-July they should be ready to go," said Niklaus.
The fields will not be ready until later because grass will take time to get established. Soccer-football fields could be ready for play as soon as the fall of 2018, but the baseball and softball fields likely won’t be ready until the spring of 2019.
"The critical time for the ball fields is actually mid August," said Niklaus. "We have to be able to seed then. Otherwise that could delay us another year if we didn’t get all of that seeded. We’ve been pressing that issue with the engineers and contractors, and they’re pretty comfortable with that. If we have good weather it could accelerate."
Budget
Because there have been minimal change orders with the second phase of the project and most bills have not yet come in, the budget situation has seen little change since the joint powers last met.
That means there is roughly $270,000 remaining to cover a wide variety of items that planners would like to add to the park. Some of the items include benches for the dugouts and dugout roofs, bleachers for spectators, windbreaks for the tennis court fence, foul poles, signage, fertilizer and weed control, and more.
"This is the work for the next few months – how far can we make that $270,000 stretch to get the best amenities out there," said Niklaus.
As of May 30 about $1.5 million had been expended on the recreation park, and another $2.4 million has been allocated for second-phase contracts.
Joint powers members approved about $50,000 in leftover money to install foul-line fencing, and another $77,500 for a paved access road during their previous meeting. Those amounts are not included in the remaining $270,000 balance.
Annandale School District voters approved $4 million for the project in a 2015 referendum, and another $482,117 has been donated from various private and civic sources.
Other items
■ Niklaus said that, contrary to rumors, there have not been any issues with drainage or improper elevations at the site.
"I think people need to wait to see the final product and judge then, because I think it’s going to add a lot to this area," said Niklaus.
■ City council member and Lions representative Corey Cymbella said that the Lions are still planning to build a concession stand. The plan is to put up a 32-by-32-foot two-story structure with windows in the upper levels looking out onto the "wagon wheel" of four fields.
"We envision a very nice building," he said.
If the concrete and utility work can be done, Czycalla said the Lions will undertake much of the construction work to save on labor costs. More than $60,000 has been obtained for that aspect of the project.
Czycalla said that if all goes as planned the construction could take place in August or September after the main contractors have left the area.
■ The name of the park was briefly discussed, but no final decision was made. Members did suggest using "Cardinal Fields" or something similarly less Annandale-specific to encompass the entire area covered by the school district.
■ Discussion will continue on how to best recognize many donors to the park. At present, it has been determined that the varsity baseball diamond will be called "Jack Driste Field" and the softball field will be "Marv Marohn Field" to honor those two substantial contributors to those particular aspects of the park.
■ Discussion will continue about who or what entity will manage the concession stand, which entity will ensure that future additions to the park such as horseshoe pits are properly engineered and administered, and how future costs are shared.
The land is owned by the city, but the bulk of the funds have come from school district voters. Niklaus said care should be taken going forward to nurture the cooperative relationship between the city and the school.
"I think we just need to be diligent with that so that we can maintain the cooperation that we’ve had," he said. "It’s been pretty amazing how much we’ve gotten done working together, and we want to avoid any (problems) that could pop up."
■ There was some discussion about how to handle advertising at the park, and there was consensus that a system requiring annual payments from advertisers rather than one large initial sum would be the preferable route to go. Details will be worked out later.
■ The city and school are continuing to seek grants that could help cover costs as the park becomes operational.
■ The next joint powers meeting will be held at 7:30 a.m. on Sept. 22, at Annandale Middle School.
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