It was time to play ball in Americus Saturday afternoon following a long delay.
In fact, the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Trusler Americus Baseball Complex has been in the works for right around 4 years after fundraising began back in 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic, shipping delays, weather and a rise in construction costs contributed largely to the delayed opening.
With that in mind, Britney Hinrichs of Project Playscape, the group mainly behind the fields’ construction, says it was a difficult road but an amazing payoff.
In total, more than $600,000 were raised for the construction project with dollars coming from all sources including several local businesses and community funds. Many of those funds were overseen by the Emporia Community Foundation and Director Becky Nurnberg was in attendance for Saturday’s festivities.
She says the mission of the foundation is to ensure the betterment of a community and the new ballfields in Americus are a great example of what betterment looks like.
Along with a ribbon cutting the community also enjoyed free hot dogs, a small fireworks show and even got in some practice before an official vintage baseball game to close down the afternoon’s activities.
The $400,000 project saw the addition of two new fields, bleachers, scoreboards, a playground, concessions, restrooms and more. Some inclusions have still yet to be put in place including banners and signage recognizing the various sponsors and donors who helped make the fields a reality.
Those materials should be delivered and in place in the coming weeks.
