OLD ORCHARD BEACH — Ballpark officials are asking the town for $13,500 to fund repairs and an engineering study.
The requested funds would be in addition to the town’s initial intended annual funding of $5,000 for The Ballpark.
After sitting idle for more than 20 years, The Ballpark became actively used a few years ago for baseball.
The town recently signed a three-year contract with The Surge, part of the East Coast Baseball League out of Canada.
Ballpark Operations Manager Guy Fontaine presented the Town Council with a projected budget of about $102,000 for The Ballpark.
This includes a $12,000 stipend for the operations manager, seasonal wages, service contracts and utilities, as well as facility maintenance and repair.
The majority of these expenses will be covered by multiple revenue streams, including advertising, donations, concessions proceeds, field rentals and money from the East Coast Baseball League contract.
Ballpark officials are asking the town for a total of $18,550. The requested extra funds would go toward repairs and an engineering study for the stadium.
Ten thousand dollars of the suggested funds would go to a “modest” infrastructure study, said Town Manager Larry Mead. Ideally, The Ballpark needs to eventually have an engineering study of the entire facility, but the $10,000 would be enough to cover a study of the stadium.
Councilor Kenneth Blow said he agreed that an analysis of the stadium was necessary to guide the town decisions about the facility’s future.
“If these stands aren’t fit, this is a short discussion,” said Blow.
Though the council didn’t vote on any decision Wednesday night, there was consensus among councilors to approve the money for the study.
Fontaine said The Ballpark Commission wanted about $10,500 of repairs to be completed in June so the facility would look its best for the start of the season.
“When the public goes to The Ballpark, we want them to be impressed,” said Fontaine. “We want to put our best foot forward.”
Fontaine said The Ballpark already had $7,000 budgeted for repairs, but in addition to the town giving the facility an additional $3,500, it needed the town to float it $7,000 so it could cover costs before the beginning of the fiscal year on July 1.
Council Chairman Shawn O’Neil said he supported the additional funds for repairs.
“It’s really just $3,500. It’s more than fair,” he said.
Blow had similar sentiments. “I’ve seen those gates. They’re almost falling off.”
Councilors Michael Tousignant and Joseph Thornton expressed concern with the additional $3,500.
“It’s the first night (of budget workshops), and already we’re adding money,” he said. Tousignant said he couldn’t make a decision about whether or not to approve the extra suggested money for repairs until the council was further along in the budget process.
— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or [email protected].
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less