Ground has broken on an expansion of the city ball field complex on 17th Street, and with work beginning Monday, it means fences will be installed to block access beginning Monday (Nov. 18) to three areas around the complex to make way for construction.
Access will be restricted starting Monday during construction to the overflow parking lot by the pool/t-ball fields, the cut-through service road leading to Peghorn Way, and the roadway leading from the back of the Community Center parking lot that leads to the ballfields and the Civic Center.
As part of the $16 million expansion to the 17th Street ballfields, the complex will get two new fields to accommodate St. Cloud Little League, one of the largest baseball and softball organizations in the country. Existing fields will get a makeover, and they will get new dugouts, field lighting, restrooms, parking, drainage, and fencing.
"One of the requests we've had from residents for years was more ballfields. Recreation is important to our residents," St. Cloud City Manager Veronica Miller said at the project groundbreaking. "We've never had enough fields. The City Council thought this was a priority. Working with the Little League and the Parks and Recreation Department, we were able to acquire some debt to make this happen."
"We'll be upgrading two practice fields to game fields," St. Cloud Parks and Recreation Director Stephanie Holtkamp said. "This will a complete game complex to add to our complete fields. Everything's going to change. We're going to have all covered dugouts for the players and covered bleachers for the fans. It's going to be great."
For more information about the 17th Street ballfields improvement project, visit the city's website at www.stcloudfl.gov to view a YouTube video near the bottom of the page.
