The sounds of baseball will fill the air at Lake Leatherwood Park next spring.
Eureka Springs High School, which didn’t field a baseball team for nine seasons until the team reformed a year ago, will make the field at Lake Leatherwood Park its home after a two-year agreement was approved by the city’s parks and recreation commission during its monthly meeting held Tuesday, Sept. 17.
Victor Smith and Steve Johnson, representing the ESHS program, explained how a partnership with the city can revive the baseball field as the team returns as a member of the Arkansas Activities Association and will play in the 2A-1 conference when the season starts in March.
“The field has kind of not really gotten the love it needs in terms of providing a venue for baseball games,” parks director Sam Dudley told commissioners. “Victor and Steve … they’re both affiliated with the high school team and they’ve put a lot of energy and love into the program. They approached me and asked what it would take to get the baseball field refurbished to a point where they can have their home games there. Otherwise, they would have to probably go over to Berryville or somewhere else. That’s sort of tail between your legs when Eureka kids have to go to Berryville to play their home games. It’s shameful.
“So, we’ve just been talking and came up with a pretty good plan and the school is willing to jump on board.”
Bringing back baseball at the high school started a couple of years ago when Smith, an ESHS alum, partnered with Johnson, who works with the school district.
“We’re just trying to bring baseball back in the community …,” Smith said. “…We kind of got that wild hair … that we’re going to bring back high school baseball and now we’re going into our second season. This year we’re eligible to play in the [AAA].”
The Highlanders would play approximately seven to 10 home games next season, Smith said, adding there’s improvements to the facility that are required.
“The issue with the field is that it has to be 300 feet to right and left field, minimum, for AAA standards, and our field at Leatherwood complies to these standards, but it’s going to need some work,” he said. “We need a place where we can bring all baseball to and hopefully we’re going to bring enthusiasm … I would like to reconstruct the field to an immersive field for all ages to play.”
Infield work, including the addition of “certified dirt, which is like clay and sand, pulverized dirt,” will be one of the main costs in the refurbishment, Smith said.
The infield would have pipes for bases that could be adjusted for the different age groups, he added, saying another goal is to eventually have softball games on the field.
“There would be four different sets for bases so you can adjust,” Smith said. “… And then have a portable pitching mound. My third graders are pitching at 46 feet and my high schoolers are pitching at 60.6 feet. So, by having a portable pitching mound, we can move it in and out to the right length for each group of kids.”
Other work that needs to be done includes tree and brush trimming and replacing a roof on the first base dugout, he said, adding that a partnership with parks and the ESHS building trades program would be a perfect fit for that project.
“That would be kind of a win-win,” Smith said of parks providing the materials and the students using their skills to do the labor. “… I’m on the board of the community center and we’ve had the skills group come and do big projects at the community center over the years and we’ve had a lot of success with it.”
While the project will have considerable costs, Smith said businesses in the community have committed financial pledges. Wicker-Walker, a printing and design company in Eureka Springs, has also committed to a sign project that has the potential to raise up to $24,000 a year to go back into parks for future maintenance of the field, Smith said.
Wicker-Walker has agreed to produce advertisement signs “at cost” that will be 2-feet high and 4-feet wide that would be placed along the fencing for $350 a year. Smith said he currently has “over 20” verbal commitments so far for signs.
“There’s a potential to put 80 signs,” Smith said. “… After sign costs, that would be $24,000 a year. That’s huge numbers for a small town farm field that hasn’t really been used.”
Smith said he has a goal of 40 signs for next season.
“If we did 40 signs, that’s about $12,000 after the initial sign costs, that would go back into the field and be renewable on a one-year basis. So, the next season hopefully we can resell those signs and have some money to maintain the field or potentially add in a batting cage or equipment shed just to give it some sustainable life. … If we can get some sustainability in the field it’s going to be great for the community and the school.”
Commissioners said they liked the idea of getting the field back into playing shape and for the facility to be used regularly.
“I, for one, can’t imagine a better scenario than getting that field used and having kids out there on the ball field,” park commission chair Mark Ingram said. “I don’t think anybody could disagree with that. It would be a great thing for the community, so I’m all about it.”
A hope is that at least “$10,000 a year” will go back into parks for the field, Smith told commissioners.
“What baseball will do for parks 100 percent is going to bring about 80 to 100 kids in the parks multiple days a week for five months out of the year,” Smith said. “And every kid has somebody that picks them up or somebody come to watch a practice … So, a potential for an extra 100 to 200 people in parks in the middle of the week for four, five months out of the year, I feel like is pretty incredible.”
Ingram agreed. “At the end of the day, that’s our mission,” Ingram said. “I think everybody would be pretty excited to see that. I would love to drive down through there and see that.”
The ESHS program currently has nearly 30 students participating, Smith said.
“That’s way too many for a high school baseball team, but they’re there,” he said. “When we started this we were told we weren’t going to get enough kids, and I laughed at people, because I said that’s not the case here. … We’ve already got 28, 29 kids showing up at practice one day a week, months before the season starts. Hopefully, a lot of those kids are going to hang in and we’re going to get some improvement going.”
The partnership between the school and the parks department is a benefit to the community, commissioners agreed.
The 2A-1 conference that the Highlanders will compete in next year includes Alpena, Cotter, Decatur, Life Way Christian, Mountainburg, Ozark Catholic Academy in Tontitown and Ozark Mountain, located in Western Grove.
UPCOMING EVENTS
The parks department is hosting a series of upcoming events.
There will be a native plant walk and invasive plant removal at Lake Leatherwood Park from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 26. It’s free and open to anyone, Dudley said.
“We identify some plants and then later we go remove the bad ones, look at the good ones,” he said.
The Arkansas Enduro Series will host a mountain biking event Sept. 27-29 and Lake Leatherwood will also host its first fishing derby, in collaboration with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 5.
“No registration is required, but obviously you need to have a fishing license,” Dudley said. “If you need poles or tackle, or whatever, there will be equipment out there to use. It’s really cool trying to get kids into the sport.”
The city’s annual fall tree giveaway will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 8, at the Eureka Springs Community Center.
“It’s really 9 a.m. until we run out of trees,” Dudley said.
OTHER UPDATES
In his director’s report, Dudley said trail signage for all the trails and walking paths is complete and a new distribution of pocket maps have arrived.
“Just in time for the hiking season to really kick off,” he said.
Also recently completed was the restoration of the Crystal Terrace Bridge, Dudley reported.
“A big thank you to the Eureka Springs Preservation Society for helping fund it and Adam Brockett with Brockett Handyman Services … it looks great.”
The bridge includes solar-powered LED lights that illuminate it at night.
Dudley also reported that five individuals have committed to purchasing dedication plaques for the benches at Basin Spring Park.
