The Friends of Kern Park have slated a cleanup day at the park beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday in the Ivy Drive School parking lot.
Mary Rydingsward, a founder of the group, said she hopes for a good turnout.
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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
Showing posts with label Kern Park. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kern Park. Show all posts
April 29, 2009
September 15, 2008
Girls softball at the Roberts property?
Using Kern Park for a girls softball complex appears increasingly unlikely.
But officials said they are trying to find an alternative location that might work out better.
City Councilor Mike Rimcoski said he is firmly opposed to putting new fields at the long-neglected Kern Park and called on park officials to find another spot.
Rimcoski said that the former Roberts property, purchased for $1.2 million seven years ago for a recreation complex, may be the best option.
The Bristol Girls Softball League is searching for a place to build at least a couple of new fields to accommodate its growing numbers of young softball players. It currently uses Little League fields at off times.
City Councilor Kevin McCauley, co-chairman of the Roberts Committee, said he suspects there are “a lot of leagues out there” that are interested in having fields at the 46-acre site on Chippens Hill.
City Councilors recently asked the Park Board and the Roberts panel to consider the request from the girls softball league.
A park panel subcommittee has already been looking into it, but hasn’t made any decisions.
The Roberts property has been largely ignored by city leaders since the Board of Finance gunned down the initial request two years ago for money to move ahead with $6.3 million recreation complex that included a lighted, synthetic playing field and parking for hundreds of cars.
Mayor Art Ward said he would still like to see the site used for one of the two new 900-student schools sought by the Board of Education, but a majority of the council favors putting the building in a sand pit off Barlow Street.
A final decision on the school site is likely within a few weeks.
The Bristol Soccer Club and several other youth sports leagues have long called on the city to create more fields for young athletes to use. They say there is a serious field shortage in town.
City leaders, including Ward, have said that better oversight of the use of the school and park fields would help. They also said that the new schools can offer more fields that might be able to help alleviate the crunch.
Tom Tabacco of the girls softball league said that his teams need a facility.
“The girls don’t have anything in this town,” Tabacco said.
*******
Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
But officials said they are trying to find an alternative location that might work out better.
City Councilor Mike Rimcoski said he is firmly opposed to putting new fields at the long-neglected Kern Park and called on park officials to find another spot.
Rimcoski said that the former Roberts property, purchased for $1.2 million seven years ago for a recreation complex, may be the best option.
The Bristol Girls Softball League is searching for a place to build at least a couple of new fields to accommodate its growing numbers of young softball players. It currently uses Little League fields at off times.
City Councilor Kevin McCauley, co-chairman of the Roberts Committee, said he suspects there are “a lot of leagues out there” that are interested in having fields at the 46-acre site on Chippens Hill.
City Councilors recently asked the Park Board and the Roberts panel to consider the request from the girls softball league.
A park panel subcommittee has already been looking into it, but hasn’t made any decisions.
The Roberts property has been largely ignored by city leaders since the Board of Finance gunned down the initial request two years ago for money to move ahead with $6.3 million recreation complex that included a lighted, synthetic playing field and parking for hundreds of cars.
Mayor Art Ward said he would still like to see the site used for one of the two new 900-student schools sought by the Board of Education, but a majority of the council favors putting the building in a sand pit off Barlow Street.
A final decision on the school site is likely within a few weeks.
The Bristol Soccer Club and several other youth sports leagues have long called on the city to create more fields for young athletes to use. They say there is a serious field shortage in town.
City leaders, including Ward, have said that better oversight of the use of the school and park fields would help. They also said that the new schools can offer more fields that might be able to help alleviate the crunch.
Tom Tabacco of the girls softball league said that his teams need a facility.
“The girls don’t have anything in this town,” Tabacco said.
*******
Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
August 20, 2008
Kern Park eyed for softball complex
Tired of getting batted around to different fields across town, a new girls softball league is eyeing the possibility of creating a softball complex at the long-neglected Kern Park.
“We just want our own facility,” said Tom Tabacco of the Bristol Girls Softball League. “The girls don’t have anything in this town.”
The Park Board agreed Wednesday to have one of its subcommittees explore the possibility of allowing new softball fields at Kern Park, which is located between Ivy Drive School and the Big Lots store on Farmington Avenue.
“The space is available and nothing is there at the present time,” Mayor Art Ward said.
He said the softball complex, which would initially include two fields and a concession stand, would help “clean it up” and put the park to use.
But Mary Rydingsward, an environmentalist who helped preserve the park when the city considered selling a chunk of it to a developer, said that the entire 29-acre park is a crucial watershed ecosystem that shouldn’t be turned into playing fields.
There are about 200 girls playing Little League girls softball, Tabacco said.
The new league was created this year, he said, to replace small softball programs that each of the three traditionally boys Little Leagues in town had developed for girls.
He said there is a major donor who will help building the new fields and state grants are also likely.
The way it is now, Tabacco said, is that the girls teams are shuffled all over town to grab fields that aren’t in use by one of the many baseball teams. They don’t have a home of their own, he said, and until this year they also had to make do with equipment castoffs from the boys.
Though the softball league is a newcomer, its all-star teams competed well with other leagues in the state. Its 11 and 12-year-old team came within one game of winning the state title, Tabacco said.
He said the league would like to get space for as many as four fields, even if only two are slated for construction for now, as well as enough parking.
“We’re just trying to get something for girls,” Tabacco said. “We’re just looking for land.”
Tabacco said he’s never even been to Kern Park. He said that Ward and Park Director Ed Swicklas suggested it as a potential site.
*******
Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
“We just want our own facility,” said Tom Tabacco of the Bristol Girls Softball League. “The girls don’t have anything in this town.”
The Park Board agreed Wednesday to have one of its subcommittees explore the possibility of allowing new softball fields at Kern Park, which is located between Ivy Drive School and the Big Lots store on Farmington Avenue.
“The space is available and nothing is there at the present time,” Mayor Art Ward said.
He said the softball complex, which would initially include two fields and a concession stand, would help “clean it up” and put the park to use.
But Mary Rydingsward, an environmentalist who helped preserve the park when the city considered selling a chunk of it to a developer, said that the entire 29-acre park is a crucial watershed ecosystem that shouldn’t be turned into playing fields.
There are about 200 girls playing Little League girls softball, Tabacco said.
The new league was created this year, he said, to replace small softball programs that each of the three traditionally boys Little Leagues in town had developed for girls.
He said there is a major donor who will help building the new fields and state grants are also likely.
The way it is now, Tabacco said, is that the girls teams are shuffled all over town to grab fields that aren’t in use by one of the many baseball teams. They don’t have a home of their own, he said, and until this year they also had to make do with equipment castoffs from the boys.
Though the softball league is a newcomer, its all-star teams competed well with other leagues in the state. Its 11 and 12-year-old team came within one game of winning the state title, Tabacco said.
He said the league would like to get space for as many as four fields, even if only two are slated for construction for now, as well as enough parking.
“We’re just trying to get something for girls,” Tabacco said. “We’re just looking for land.”
Tabacco said he’s never even been to Kern Park. He said that Ward and Park Director Ed Swicklas suggested it as a potential site.
*******
Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
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