Reconstruction work set to finish off Bartlett ballfield project

By Cameron Montemayor

With a recent stretch of winter storms and frigid temperatures in St. Joseph, the baseball diamond may seem like an afterthought.

But for St. Joseph Parks, Recreation and Civic Facilities, the adoption of a resolution by city council members last week for close to $62,000 worth of work to the Bartlett Park baseball field helped set up a notable domino that will fall in a greater plan for improvements.

Dealing with rain is a common part of baseball in the spring. For players and fans who attended games at the Bartlett Park baseball field on Duncan Street, the steep hillside adjacent to it created a mess of problems for areas of the park during heavier rain events due to stormwater runoff.

“A lot of that water would find its way onto the ballfield because it wasn’t designed to come that way. So that was also a problem for us especially on the infield portion,” said Jeff Atkins, assistant parks director. “That’s not nice when you come to a ball game to have to walk through storm runoff.”

Stormwater also damaged parts of the large concession stand and caused cracking and upheaving in the sidewalks, which created tripping hazards. The parks department will completely replace the sidewalks and fix the concession areas as part of the newly scheduled work after installing a large concrete spillway in October behind the concession stand to correct runoff issues.

“Take away from the safety side of it. They just deserve better than what we had. So we’ll be able to repair that now,” Atkins said.

He said to ensure baseball-related activities aren’t hindered, the project could be pushed back until the end of the high school baseball season in late May or early June.

If work is scheduled while activities like wood-bat league events are ongoing, the department will make sure restroom services are available and the ballpark remains operational.

“We won’t just totally shut the facility down on them,” Atkins said. “We’ll more than happily work with either group to make sure it happens.”

The scheduled work is one part of the department’s $400,000 Bartlett Park project. It’s one of many proposals funded by voters with the approval of a half-cent parks tax in 2021.

Other notable project work includes replacing the park shelter, stabilizing the baseball field hillside and replacing lighting on the upper youth ball field. The new LED lights are tentatively scheduled to be installed in fiscal year 2026.

The passage of the tax by voters has been a shot in the arm not just to the city’s park system as a whole, but the department’s capabilities and excitement.

“The parks tax has been wonderful for the community,” Atkins said. “It’s a fun time to work here, to be able to take care of so many things like we are.”