STARKVILLE — Starkville Parks and Recreation General Manager Brandon Doherty briefed the board of aldermen during a Friday work session about Cornerstone Park’s operating hours, when fields would be available and anticipated maintenance issues.
In October the city cut the ribbon on Cornerstone Park, a $23 million baseball/softball complex that includes 12 tournament-ready fields. It is located off of Highway 25 in west Starkville.
The complex will serve as home for city recreational leagues during spring and summer, and will host tournaments on the weekends, mostly for travel ball organizations. The city has contracted with Sports Facilities Management to operate its parks, including Cornerstone.
Fields will be open for practice, Doherty said, but reservations are recommended.
“Practices for travel teams will need to be scheduled, and we will dedicate them to a field,” Doherty said. “… If you show up without a scheduled time, there’s no guarantee there’s going to be an available field. We really encourage everybody to call ahead.”
Doherty said reservations can be made by calling or emailing the athletics office, and practices may not be scheduled more than two weeks in advance.
“As usage grows, I think more and more people are going to show up and just want to do stuff,” Doherty said. “I encourage them to just call or email us first.”
Practices will not be allowed during games, tournaments or events at the park, Doherty said. There is no fee for practicing on Cornerstone’s fields.
Mayor Lynn Spruill questioned how field maintenance will be handled.
Doherty said it would be challenging, given the level of activity.
“Starting in January through basically May, we have a rec program out there that is Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and probably some Fridays,” Doherty said. “On top of that we have rec teams who need to practice, and on Saturdays starting in February we’ll have tournaments going on. That’s a lot of wear and tear on grass.”
Doherty said one solution is to rotate fields, especially during winter months when grass is dormant.
“We’re going to have to rotate some fields around and rest the areas,” Doherty said. “That doesn’t mean we’re going to have all 12 fields always available. We might only have eight or six sometimes. That’s why it’s so important people call us (to reserve a field).”
Even when tournaments roll into town, they may not get the whole dozen, Doherty said.
“We’re going to work with (the tournaments) to make sure they only use certain fields,” Doherty said. “And we’ll control the rec leagues for that, too.”
Spruill suggested putting up signage to that effect to better manage public expectations.
“We’re each going to get phone calls that say, ‘You’ve got four (closed) fields out here, why can’t I use them?’” Spruill said. “We need to make sure we have signage explaining … we’re trying to give them the best experience possible, and so we have to rest the fields.”
In the future, Doherty said Cornerstone would need improved parking.
“We have a large lot that can be used for (tournament) parking, but because it’s not gravel it seems to be uncertain as to its availability at any given point,” Spruill said. “Have we priced out what graveling that area would be?”
Doherty estimated the cost between $50,000 and $75,000.
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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