Though Friday’s weather was overcast and rainy, with late winter storms blowing through the region during winter’s final weekend, Centralia and Rochester high schools’ baseball teams were still able to play thanks to the new artificial turf at Fort Borst Park.
Friday’s game was also part of an open house celebration held by the turfing project partners marking the completion of the effort.
Those representing the partners involved included turfing project governing board members Centralia School Superintendent Lisa Grant, Centralia Deputy City Manager and Parks Director Amy Buckler and Lewis County Public Facilities District (PFD) Board President Ron Averill. They were joined by 20th District state Rep. Peter Abbarno, R-Centralia, who secured early funding for the project in the state Legislature.
“This is a partnership and could not happen without the cooperation of the (Centralia) School District (CSD), the city and the public facilities district,” Grant said, speaking during the open house. “And so, we are so excited to have these fields — six turfed fields — for our students to play on and our youth to play on. We know that builds pride in their community and their school, as well as giving our students opportunity to play more. We wouldn’t be playing today without a fully turfed field.”
Grant also thanked the Twin Cities Sports Commission (TCSC) and the Northwest Sports Hub for their involvement and work, along with Abbarno.
“As a husband and father of two kids who have played on these fields since they were infants, this is a really important day. Because turfing these fields is not just about how important youth athletics are, quality of life, enjoyment of this park,” Abbarno said. “But, it’s also an economic driver. It does both. It’s a win-win for the entire community. It’s a win for our youth. It’s a win for all our sports teams.”
Additionally, Abbarno thanked Dale Pullin and Lyle Overbay, managing directors of the Northwest Sports Hub.
“I remember Lyle and I having coffee several years ago, Dale was there too, and really, you sketched out this whole dream about creating a premier sports destination. Where sports tourism, your local teams, can play on some of the best fields in the state,” Abbarno said.
Averill told those in attendance originally they were only planning to turf a handful of infields, but when the project bids came in under what they expected, Abbarno pushed them to install more turf.
“Peter was the one that pushed us to fully turf over here on Field 9, because besides baseball over there, we can now do two soccer fields in there, play lacrosse and other sports and make it much more beneficial to the community,” Averill said.
At Borst Park’s Quad Complex, Fields 6, 7 and 8 now have turf installed in the infields, while Field 9 is fully turfed, Buckler stated. The infields of both Wheeler Field and Field 2 also have turf installed in the infields.
“We had some additional improvements that were made over at Wheeler, with help from Lakeside Industries, the Wheeler Improvement Committee and CAAFF (Centralia Athletics and Activities Facilities Foundation),” Buckler said.
She also thanked Centralia Parks Department staff and the CSD’s maintenance staff for getting the fields ready for this year’s baseball and softball seasons.
More improvements are planned for the future, including adding lighting to the fields at the Quad Complex and improving the soccer fields.
In total, approximately $4.8 million was allocated to turf the fields by all the partners involved, with $1.45 million coming from the City of Centralia’s American Rescue Plan Act funds.
The CSD had a total of $3,370,000 budgeted to turf the fields of the Quad Complex.
A total of $2,430,000 of the CSD funding came from state funding. An additional $430,000 came from a TransAlta grant, with the TCSC providing $110,000 and the PFD $400,000.
The newly installed artificial turf has an expected lifespan of 10 to 15 years depending on maintenance, which will be funded by the newly created Borst Park turf maintenance and replacement fund — which was established by the Centralia City Council last week.
For more information on the turf maintenance and replacement fund, read The Chronicle’s previous story at https://tinyurl.com/cxme938w.
