Catskill Mountain Little League wants to build a new youth baseball complex behind Russ Archibald Fields in Stamford thanks to the Robinson-Broadhurst Foundation Inc.
Representatives from CMLL presented a $ 1 million financing proposal to the RBFI board for the complex, which will be built by Clark Companies in Delhi just outside the village of Stamford off State Highway 10, a media release said. CMLL needs a new field after Timothy Terry Field, behind Stamford Village Library, was used by the village to build a $ 2.5 million swimming pool, a media release said. Stamford Village Mayor Robert Schneider announced in June that the village pool would be built on the site of the Little League fields, and the fields would be moved to the Archibald Field complex. The pool will open in June.
According to Collin Miller, a board member of CMLL, three majors, four minors and four teeball teams participated last year. The league accepts children living in Stamford, Grand Gorge, Roxbury, Halcottsville, Fleischmanns, Margaretville, Arena, Andes, Bovina Center, South Kortright, Hobart, Bloomville, Meredith, East Meredith, Davenport and Harpersfield.
He said he hopes the Little League will grow next year, “but before we build a permanent home it will be difficult to grow it the way we want.”
Clark Companies designed a properly-lit Little League diamond with light and a second “multi-use” diamond that would serve Little League baseball while enabling the creation of league-sanctioned softball, the release said. The complex will also include a bullpen, batting cage, license stand, an announcement booth and parking for 103 cars. CMLL has requested approximately seven of the 40 acres owned by the village of Stamford to accommodate the new complex.
According to the publication, RBFI agreed to finance the project if the following criteria were met: successful transfer of village-owned land to CMLL and a formal right of way agreement granted by a private landowner whose road shares the village property behind Archibald Fields, the publication states . In order for the village to transfer the property to CMLL, the inhabitants of the village must approve the transfer in a permitted referendum, the publication states.
CMLL officials will work over the winter to give the village what they need to prepare for a referendum on the land transfer in hopes of getting started on the project next spring, the release said.
Vicky Klukkert, staff writer, can be reached at [email protected] or 607-441-7221. Follow her @DS_VickyK on Twitter.