STARKVILLE — DD Consulting owner David D’Aquilla said the city of Starkville does not need to plan on opening Cornerstone Park until after Labor Day.
Cornerstone, Starkville’s upcoming softball and baseball sports complex, has been under construction since 2020, but due to delays from COVID-19, heavy rainfall and supply chain issues, the park’s expected opening date keeps getting pushed back.
While D’Aquilla said he knows the city wanted to open the park in August, he wants to ensure all finish and detail work is completed before hosting events at Cornerstone.
“I’m trying to be realistic because between COVID, shipping delays and weather, this project has been a very difficult project to get momentum on,” D’Aquilla said.
Several contracting groups are working on construction for the park, D’Aquilla said, and he is encouraging all of them to complete their work by July 1, something he said may be unrealistic depending on weather conditions. He said Parks and Recreation Executive Director Brandon Doherty has planned events for August at Cornerstone, but if development is not yet finished, these events can be held at the Starkville Sportsplex.
The park will consist of three different quads, each consisting of four fields, amounting to 12 total baseball and softball fields, with restrooms at each quad. The infields will have synthetic turf and the outfield will have natural grass.
D’Aquilla said back work will begin in the coming weeks, with contractors starting the fencing and concrete throughout the park.
“When that work starts going, it’s going to go pretty big and hopefully, pretty quickly,” D’Aquilla said.
The park will soon have lighting, provided by 4-County Electric Power Association.
“Our fields are 50-foot candles in the infield and 30-foot candles in the outfield, which normal recreation is 30-20, so we’re one step above normal rec which allows us to put (the city) in a really good position on your tournament type stuff,” D’Aquilla said of the field lighting.
Other park updates
Along with Cornerstone, Doherty said Parks and Rec has received multiple sponsorships to help offset the cost of park operations.
Through the various sponsorship packages, Parks and Rec has generated $20,500 from businesses such as Chick-fil-A, Spruill Properties and Mitchell Eye Care.
“These are things like team sponsors, field sponsors, a number of different things that we’re doing,” Doherty said. “We have some critical contracts that came through… As we move through the rest of the season, we do think we will get more sponsorships just because of the growing attention that we have with teams and people wanting to sponsor.”
Doherty said he is also looking into finding sponsorships for a potential scholarship program, which would allow low-income families to participate in recreational sports.
In this baseball and softball season, Doherty said the city has seen a record number of participants, with over 1,000 children signing up to play ball — 704 boys for baseball and 333 people for softball. Registration for adult baseball and softball is still open. For basketball, 341 boys and 58 girls played this past season.
“As we’re having these big numbers, we’re feeling the pressure of these big numbers a little bit, the organization, field access, things like that,” Doherty said.
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