By Brian Sabin
Special to Inside
Six hundred youth baseball players need an act of God and fast-acting sod for their season to start on time.
The baseball fields of Hamlin Park, 3035 N. Hoyne Ave., are undergoing a $700,000 renovation, thanks to efforts by the Hamlin Park Baseball Association (HPBA), the Chicago Cubs, Ald. Ted Matlak (32nd) and the Chicago Park District (CPD).
But one of the coldest Decembers in Chicago's history has halted progress. Construction crews can't install new irrigation systems designed to improve drainage and to reduce the number of games lost to rainouts because the ground is frozen. Though the plan calls for four beautiful new baseball diamonds, on Dec. 12 the yard in front of Hamlin Park's field house was a flat snowy plane broken only by wooden stakes.
"I'm already concerned," said John Regalado, director of capital construction for the CPD. "These outside parks are contingent on weather, something we can't control."
Regalado said this year's early winter "salted everything completely" in terms of the park's renovation schedule. Contractors need only a few warm days to put in drainage systems, but new sod for the outfield grass takes six to eight weeks to establish itself, according to Regalado. If temperatures aren't above 40 degrees by mid-March, the Hamlin Park Baseball Association's season may not open on May 5 as scheduled.
The association's frustration over rainouts led to the rehabilitation. Treasurer Sean Delanty said volunteers and parents from the organization have spent hundreds of hours manually draining infields over the past few years so their kids could play ball.
"We've put a lot of sweat equity into these fields," Delanty said.
"It's grueling work," said Keith Krisciunas, an assistant varsity baseball coach at Lakeview High School who served as HPBA's treasurer for six years, before Delanty took over the position.
Krisciunas said the diamonds were in good condition after the White Sox paid for improvements in 1997, but by 1999 the fields had fallen into disrepair. Beginning that season Krisciunas had to shovel, rake and sweep water from the infields by hand. He often woke up at 5:30 a.m. to get the fields into shape.
"I just looked at it as an advantage," Krisciunas said. "I would drop 20 pounds just getting the fields in shape, without changing my diet or going to the gym."
The rain-plagued 2004 season was the last straw. More than 100 of the games had to be canceled because of Hamlin Park's soggy fields. Delanty and HPBA president David Williams spent 10 hours one Friday trying to rake out the diamonds, only to have all their work undone by a half hour of showers.
A week later Delanty dropped off his two young sons for their Saturday morning games at Hamlin Park, where the association had resorted to setting up bases in the outfield grass. On his way to a golf outing in Evanston, he saw Welles Park had dry fields that hosted games without any problems.
"I thought to myself, 'Now why are they able to play when our fields are an absolute train wreck?'" Delanty said. "I just knew there was an answer."
Delanty contacted the CPD and was told Welles Park had added better drains after residents raised more than $25,000 to improve the fields. Determined to improve Hamlin Park's diamonds, Delanty spent hours writing a grant proposal, something the 16-year aircraft mechanic had never before tried.
The association submitted their grant to the Chicago Cubs in September 2004. They didn't expect to hear back for a long time. Less than two weeks later, Delanty and Williams met with a Cubs Care community relations manager behind home plate at Wrigley Field.
"I was utterly amazed it went so quick," Williams said. "When they called us right away, I was excited that it actually was going to happen."
Hamlin Park Baseball Association had requested $25,000, hoping to get $10,000. Within a few months the Cubs bumped up their pledge to $200,000.
"They were looking for a park that was already established, well-run, in the neighborhood, and that really needed fixing," Williams said. "We were in the right place at the right time."
The association then went to Matlak's office. Delanty brought a white poster board with photos of association members wearing knee-high rubber boots and working to remove a 500-gallon mud puddle from the park's northeast infield.
"You really didn't understand the issue until you saw the pictures of the bucket brigade," Matlak said. "You'd just go past the field at game time and see kids playing. The pictures really explained an issue I didn't quite realize."
Parks are one of his top priorities, Matlak said, and he hopes the Hamlin Park rehab is just the beginning.
"Now that we've done this with the drainage and we've seen how it works, this will be the model for the rest of the ball-fields in the ward," Matlak added. He also said he was glad that members of the community were taking ownership of their area.
Matlak and the association drew up a wish list for the park that included a scoreboard and improved lighting. After negotiating with the Park District, the approved plan included $665,000 in field renovations and an additional $35,000 for a new scoreboard and a white brick walk of fame.
Hamlin Park Baseball Association was asked to raise $100,000 for the effort, and has so far received about $82,000 in donations, Delanty said. The organization raised much of the money by selling engraved bricks for the walk of fame. Bricks can still be purchased on the association's Web site (www.leaguelineup.com/hamlinparkassociation).
State Rep. Richard Bradley played baseball at Hamlin Park with his brother when they were growing up. Bradley recently requested that $25,000 in state money go toward Hamlin Park's rehabilitation and said he'll meet with the governor in the coming months about the request.
"Our parks are just the basis for all the good things going on in our community and our neighborhood," Bradley said.
The Park District's work crews began work on Nov. 10 and were able to complete the demolition before cold weather hit. Now nearly everyone hopes for an early thaw so the landscapers can set the sod soon.
"Once the sod is established," Regalado said, "we can play ball." |
