City to upgrade older ball fields

Published 7:17 pm Tuesday, February 5, 2013

The City of Bainbridge will soon renovate four fields at the Bill Reynolds Sports Park, to make them look nicer.

The sports park, located off Cox Avenue near the Earle May Boat Basin, has three phases. Phase 1 and Phase 2 both have four fields apiece, while the third phase — completed in 2011 — added an additional eight fields.

At its Tuesday meeting, the City Council was set to approve a bid from Perimeter Fence and Deck LLC of Thomasville for $47,464 for materials and labor to install fencing at Bill Reynolds Phase 1.

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The Council was also set to approve a bid from $14,668.83 from White’s Fence Company of Thomasville, Ga., for material for eight dugouts and stands at Phase 1. Local contractor Joe Frank Battles submitted a low bid of $2,800 to install the dugout fencing and stands, Bainbridge City Manager Chris Hobby said.

“The dugouts at Phase 1 are just very old and the backstops are not as high as at the fields we built later,” Hobby said. “The new dugouts will be larger and have more room for players’ equipment. The older fields will just look nicer once the work is complete.”

Hobby said that, eventually, Leisure Services would like to construct a new, more functional scorekeepers’ building and concession stand, like the one at Bill Reynolds Phase 3, when more money becomes available in the city’s budget.

In all, the sports park has 16 baseball/softball fields, two multi-purpose fields for soccer and football and five basketball courts.

The opening ceremony for baseball and softball will be held Saturday, March 16.