Community and Leisure Services is getting ready for the spring season with their Field Use Meeting on March 29.
Director of leisure services Michael Ulriksen says they are working with different usage groups, including Humboldt’s Minor Softball and Fastball groups, as well as men’s and women’s soccer, and flag, recreational touch, and HCI football teams to see what the year looks like in terms of field use.
Ulriksen says the groups work well together with no conflicts.
Field usage, especially for current ball teams, will work around current renovations still going on at Centennial Park.
Work will continue on the Centennial Park diamonds after the 2018 ball season with the playing surfaces, fencing, and dugouts being top priority. The department was hoping to get some work started before the ball seasons began but with current weather conditions, that is looking less and less likely, says Ulriksen.
The four current diamonds will become six, as well as rehabbing the backstops, dugouts, and ground work to eliminate the drainage issues that they have at Centennial.
“We do have a pump station that was installed over the last couple of years that will definitely help alleviate a lot of the concerns as far as the water goes.”
The two new diamonds will be installed on either side of the skateboard park with plans for additional parking, says Ulriksen.
With work starting on the two diamonds this year, Ulriksen says there is hopefully a chance that the diamonds are useable for 2019 but 2020 is the more likely starting point.
“This year we’re looking, basically fencing, looking at doing some ground work, hopefully establishing the infield on those two diamonds and getting grass seeded.”
Work around the diamonds will get topsoil and grass seed planted with council approving funds for the project in the 2018 budget.
They will see how far that will take them, says Ulriksen.
“Whatever we have to take to council next year to do some finalizing; pathways, trees, those types of amenities, will come over the next few years.”
Grassed areas planted in the fall before the snowfall will now have sodding coming in the spring. Above ground irrigation is ensuring the grass will be fully watered with the football/soccer practice field ready for use in the spring of 2019.
The east side green space will be a practice field for the high school as well as a place for outdoor gym classes. Games for soccer and football will remain at Glenn Hall Park.
Most of 2017 was spent looking at north of the Humboldt and District Hospital Complex as an option for more ball diamonds, however, Ulriksen says the cost of ground work made that impossible for now.
“We had to go back to the drawing board and we did bring all the user groups back to the table and decided rehabbing the diamonds we have (at Centennial Park) was our best option from a financial perspective.”
