Changes in store for Jackson softball-field upgrades

Plans to upgrade the field where Jackson’s softball team will play have undergone some changes since the project’s proposal earlier this year.

The city has partnered with the Jackson R-2 school district to improve the facilities.

Together, they plan to add new restrooms, a concession stand, press box, fencing and other features to the field.

The project was intended as a split between the city and school district, with each party putting in $40,000.

But Jackson public-works staff engineer Erica Bogenpohl said Monday by email the project “has morphed over time and is still changing.”

The project is being pursued piecemeal, with the two big-ticket items being split between the school handling the construction of the press box and the city building the restroom/concession building.

But there are architectural services the city needs before construction can begin, Bogenpohl said, and the price of those services has given the city pause.

“We are still negotiating a contract with the architect,” she said. “The preliminary costs provided to us from them are much higher than anticipated, so we are exploring options to bring those numbers down.”

She said at this point, the city is “a long way off” from putting anything out to bid on the project, and it doesn’t appear either of the projects will be completed by the time softball season arrives.

School-district superintendent John Link has indicated while it would be difficult, construction may be scheduled around the softball team’s use of the field.

The city has completed installation of new fencing around the field, however.

To keep costs down, the city and the school district have considered reusing elements from other fields and/or using prefabricated structures.

The upgrades are part of the city’s overall push for better parks that resulted in a new disc-golf course earlier this year, more than $23,000 in new playground equipment last month and ongoing extension of the Hubble Creek Recreation Trail, which began its second phase last week.

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3627