Community Swings Into Action for Ballard Park Addition
ballard park, parks, recreation,
For the past 20 years, Tupelo parents have shuttled their Little Leaguers across town from one city park to another to play in various ball games.
With the opening of a new, refurbished sports complex at Ballard Park, all of the city’s youth baseball games are held at one state-of-the-art facility, a location that can now lay claim to being the largest city-owned athletic complex in the state of Mississippi.
Today, the baseball sportsplex at Ballard Park attracts crowds nearly every night of the week during the warm spring and summer ball season.
“Normally on any given weeknight, especially on a Tuesday or Thursday, all 800 ballplayers are here,” says Don Lewis, director of Tupelo Parks and Recreation. “That’s almost 2,000 to 3,000 people in the city’s park on a weeknight. The baseball lights are on. There’s a whole lot of excitement about the games, seeing neighbors and one another’s kids. It’s a huge community gathering spot.”
In 2008, Ballard Park reopened with nine new baseball complexes in the 153-acre park, which has long attracted park-goers to its scenic lake, serene walking trails, soccer fields and acres of green space.
It took an investment of nearly $4.8 million and the sincere desire of the community to create such a youth sports complex, Lewis says. Parents got together and raised nearly $1 million of the total, including all of the funds needed to open 5,000-square-foot concessions stand.
“It’s great when you get the community involved like this,” he says. “They have a lot more pride in it.”
Lewis credits parents and the community for creating a culture in Tupelo in which parks and recreation are a priority. If the community really wants something, Lewis says that the city has a long history of bending over backwards to try and get it for them.
“One of the things we do here in Tupelo is we take on community projects, and those are the ones we try to give priority to, when community really gets involved,” he says. “If they really want to get involved, we can usually make whatever it is happen – anywhere from a $10,000 investment in basketball courts to a multimillion-dollar baseball complex. It doesn’t matter the size of the project. When the community wants to get involved, we can make it happen.”
At Veterans Memorial Park, community interest led to a new cross-country trail, walking tracks, playgrounds and volleyball courts.
The 206-acre park has gone through many other recent changes, including the establishment of four softball fields, a playground facility, fitness trails throughout the park and a new splash and spray park.
The park has two lakes and a veterans’ memorial, dedicated in a 2008 ceremony to all of the city’s veterans.
The amenities – both new and longstanding – make Tupelo’s parks a prime recreational destination for local residents.
“On any given weekend, you have to come early to park to find parking spots in the parks,” he says. “They are so well-used, from walkers and runners, to grandparents with grandchildren.”
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Story by Anita Wadhwani
