BY KEITH LIPPOLDT
klippoldt@gbtribune.com
In a joint venture between the City of Great Bend and the Great Bend Recreation Center, Al Burns Field at Veterans Park has received a much needed upgrade on its infield grass.
Four years ago, the field was sodded with Bermuda grass but due to the makeup of the soils high clay content, it didn’t take root properly and never became hearty. The surface was choppy, weedy and later deemed unsafe. Last summer, the field was sprayed green so it would, at best, look presentable to those in attendance.
“When we installed the sod four years ago, we didn’t get the dirt work quite right so it created a bowl on the infield,” GBRC Executive Director Chris Umphres said. “There was so much clay and the dirt was always moist so the Bermuda never took off. We removed a lot of the clay and filled it back in with top soil. While we had just the dirt on the infield, we installed new sprinklers on the infield and in foul territory.
The decision was made to replace the Bermuda with a Hybrid Sports Turf RTF Rhizomatous Fescue sod that is self-repairing with strong insect tolerance, traffic tolerance, and disease resistance. Plus, it will green-up early in the spring and stay green throughout the playing season and into fall.
The City covered the cost of the 19,000 square feet of new sod while GBRC took care of the dirt work and the sprinklers. The overall cost of the project was around $19,000.
“This will be a great addition to Al Burns Field,” Umphres said. “It will be ready for the Bat Cats and we will be able to use it for high school showcases and tournaments next spring. Everything’s green. There’s some watering going on. So everything should be good to go here in the next two months for ball out there.”
GBRC has Rec Night scheduled for July 3. “We’ll get some information out, but that’ll be our night there at that field.”
Another city facility also received some necessary work on its fields.
“We were able to skin the grass at Harms Baseball/Softball Complex, and we went back 100% with dirt, so it’s now like a multi purpose facility that can be used for teams,” Umphres said. “Now, 95% of the teams in town can have another field to use. So we’re kind of excited about that one.”
Here is a brief look at what happened at Monday’s Great Bend Recreation Commission meeting.
• It was reported that the two Easter Egg Hunts were big successes, even after having to delay them for a week due to inclement weather the weekend before. A total of 14,000 eggs were stuffed with candy and prizes for these events - 2,000 for the dogs and 12,000 for the Flashlight Egg Hunt for the kids.
Board Chair John Pike appreciated the PawSome Hunt for dogs, held at Veterans Park Saturday. “The PawSome Easter Egg Hunt is one that I get to participate in with my dog,” Pike said. “That was a lot of fun, and just to see all the different dogs that are out there was wonderful.”
Umphres offered his appreciation to organizer Megan Hammeke.
“Like Santa’s workshop, Garet (Fitzpatrick, Enrichment and Activity Center Director) kind of takes the lead for that. But these two events, Megan (Aquatic and Marketing Director) does them, and it’s basically turnkey for us,” Umphres said. “We all come out and help, but the organization behind the scenes... Vandy Simpson helps with some of the awards and stuff on the backside. Those two ladies did a heck of a job. It’s organized to a tee, so it’s nice. It almost brought a tear to your eyes when we had to cancel the day that’s been planned for the whole time. But I think that was still the right call. I don’t think people would have been out there in that cold weather. Kudos to Megan on that for sure.”
• Approved the Commercial Insurance renewal for the upcoming year. Local insurance company, Insurance Planning, submitted the only bid, which came to $11,000 more than last years cost.
“Insurance Planning put the quote together for that,” Umphres said. “The foundation liability is $338, and the rest of our property, auto, workers comp, and everything came out to $65,499. Cincinnati is one of our prior insurers, and they did not turn a bid in this time.”
After some discussion, board member Colleen Newman made a motion to accept the Insurance Planning Bid. The motion was seconded by board member Amanda Staab and passed unanimously. Board member Chuey Loera was not present.
