Guard called to help with ballpark

Construction of a city-owned baseball field in Jackson's Brookside Park will likely be a reality in the near future.

Officials announced last week that the Missouri Army National Guard approved a request to complete engineering and dirt work for a baseball field similar to the American Legion Field in City Park.

The National Guard commits to projects for not-for-profit organizations as part of its Innovative Readiness Training program. It receives requests such as constructing ball fields or repairing county roads in communities.

"It gives us a chance for our soldiers to train on our equipment," said Major Chris Mickan, a training officer with the 35th Engineer Brigade from Fort Leonard Wood. "We pay our troops to perform the work but essentially we do it for the communities for free."

The Brookside Park baseball field project has been approved at the state level, but is waiting approval at the national level. Following final approval, work could begin this year, Mickan said.

Jackson's parks and recreation director Shane Anderson said the city had applied with the Missouri National Guard for assistance on the baseball field in 2001. But due to the deployment of troops to Iraq, the project was put on hold.

Redeployment of troops from the 1140th Engineer Batallion could delay the project again, Mickan said. "Certainly if the troops were deployed again, it would impact the project. Hopefully we would be able to operate with what forces we have but we may not be able to do it as quickly," he said.

The future Brookside Park baseball field would provide the city with an additional field suitable for high school athletics. Currently, the only field large enough for older baseball players is the American Legion Field.

The National Guard will complete the initial dirt work, some concrete work and fencing, and the city will be responsible for constructing bleachers and a scoreboard.

"We're not going to have some Taj Mahal baseball field," said city administrator Jim Roach. "I don't see us spending tax dollars on an extravagant ball field."

Last year, Brookside Park was a prospective site for a ballpark, which would be partially funded by former St. Louis Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog. But citing high costs associated with building on city-owned land, organizers began a search for a new location.

Developer Ron Clark agreed to have the Whitey Herzog baseball field built on his property in Nine Oak Subdivision, which is off U.S. 61 in Jackson.

Clark said he would not comment on the baseball field until after a public hearing April 11.

Roach believed the Herzog-funded field would be used for more "elite baseball teams."

"That's all fine but we can't restrict a city-owned field to traveling teams -- our field will be for everybody," he said.

Jackson Mayor Paul Sander said he plans to form a committee soon for the Brookside Park baseball field and hopes to hold a groundbreaking at the site within a couple of months.

"I'm thrilled that this project is going to move forward and add a needed second full-size public field to our park system," Sander said.

No date has been set for completion of either the Brookside Park or Herzog-funded baseball fields.

jfreeze@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 246