Athletic facilities in the Indian Valley are going to get a new facelift.
Just months after the completion of the new stadium and field house in Gnadenhutten, the Indian Valley Board of Education approved a plan to install peat in the infield of the school’s baseball field.
“Things just fall into place for us,” said chief physician Ira Wentworth. “This is going to be a nice little community resource.”
The baseball field is behind the high school near the new stadium, which was completed this summer.
“When we fought for the bond issue (for the stadium), we said this was the last piece of the puzzle,” Wentworth said after Monday’s special meeting at the high school in Tuscarawas. “After that, it’s devastating to get people to go up like this.”
The outfield will remain natural grass, but the entire infield will be peat. The traditional grass will be replaced with green peat, while the mound, the battery boxes and the dirt part of the infield will be brown peat.
The $ 160,000 project is funded by a $ 40,000 grant from the Reeves Foundation and two private donors.
Kinsey Excavating donates the site, while Stocker Concrete donates concrete and other materials.
“This is going to be huge for our program,” said veteran baseball coach Shannon McComb, who is entering his 17th year. “This has been in the works for five or six years, but it’s finally going to work.”
The project is scheduled to start this week and hopes to be completed by mid to late November.
“This should really limit our rainfall,” McComb said. “We will be able to get out earlier and work with the infielders. Outfielders can work on the grass field on the football field.
“This is going to be a great addition.”
In addition to the monetary donations, Wentworth pointed out that much of the workforce will be made a combination of boosters, alumni and parents.
“This is the work of many loyal Indian Valley supporters who have invested in our baseball program,” Wentworth added.
Once completed, the first synthetic baseball field in Tuscarawas County will be completed by AstroTurf Corporation.
