The four baseball fields at Waupaca's Swan Park will undergo major renovations this fall. The community rallying around the park to help raise $130,000 so the infields can be redone. PC: Fox 11 Online
WAUPACA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Renovations are coming to a premier baseball complex in Waupaca.
The community hit a home run when it came to fundraising for the project.
Swan Park in Waupaca hosts hundreds of baseball and softball games each summer. Thousands of players take to the complex’s four fields.
And as summer winds down, the Swan Park fields are seeing some of their final action before a major infield renovation project gets underway.
“This park started in 1999. These infields have not been redone since their inception, and they’re starting to show their age. It’s time that we look into redoing the fields,” said Laura Colbert, the Waupaca Parks and Recreation director.
But with tight city budgets, they found out renovations to the field could take 5-10 years to complete.
That’s when two organizations which call the Swan Park fields home — Waupaca Baseball and Waupaca Area Youth Softball — teamed up to spearhead a fundraising campaign.
In just two months time, the campaign raised the $130,000 needed to redo the infields.
The planned improvements include removal of the grass in favor of all-dirt infields. The infields will be re-graded with additional drainage features before a specialized dirt surface that dries quicker and handles rain better is added to the top.
According to Kyle Douglas, president of the Waupaca Baseball Organization, “What we’re going to do is we’re going to make it easier to maintain. We’re going to create more flexibility in how we use the fields. We’re really going to create a state-of-the-art, major league-level caliber fields here — on all four fields, which is really exciting.”
While the upgrades will benefit play on the field, the community recognized its importance too.
Several local companies stepped up to the plate, making large donations to help fund the fields. The Waupaca Area Visitors and Convention Bureau awarded the project a $15,000 tourism grant, recognizing the impact of the ballfields on the community and beyond.
“Essentially, this is sports tourism. And with these tournaments, and hopefully more, we’ll have more overnight stays. People are shopping and dining while they’re here, so it’s a win-win all the way around,” said Mitchell Swenson, vice president of tourism with the Waupaca Area Chamber of Commerce.
Work on the infields will get underway this fall and all the fields will be ready for first pitch come spring.
- Homerun Sponsor: Waupaca Foundry, Faulks Brothers Construction (donating all needed construction materials, the primary cost of completing the project)
- Triple sponsor, $10,000: Badgerland Restoration & Remodeling, Neuville Motors, Energys USA, Inc., Premier Community Bank, Farmers State Bank, Bank First
- Double sponsor, $5,000: Turner’s Fresh Market and Greenhouse
- Single sponsor, $1,000: Riverhill Dental, Re/Max Lyons Real Estate, Brandon & Jade Ihm, Kyle & Trisha Everson
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