City celebrates $2.1 renovated sports complex

By Amanda Rogers

Mansfield Record

Mansfield hit a homerun with the $2.1 million renovation of the Michael L. Skinner Sports Complex. City officials, park board members and baseball players celebrated Saturday with a ribbon cutting at the recently freshened park.

“We’ve been campaigning for this for 18 years,” said Kevin Lewis, president of the Mansfield Youth Baseball Association. “Now we have a park that we are proud of. We bring in teams from all over the area and we can promote that we’re in our newly renovated sports park.”

The 28-year-old sports comples at 920 North Holland Road was built with four baseball fields, a small concession stand and small restroom facility. The complex now has nine fields, and the small concession stand and restrooms were inadequate, Lewis said. Both facilities were enlarged in the renovation.

“Now our (concession) workers have room to move around,” Lewis said. “Going to the restroom could be a horrible experience, and it wasn’t just waiting in line. Now you don’t feel like you’re going to a permanent outhouse. It’s nice, everything is stainless steel.

“The kids deserve this and (the city) found a way to make it better,” he said.

Renovations on the baseball portion of the 88-acre park (which also has soccer fields) included a new entry way and two-story tall Louisville baseball bat  sculpture, which have become a new city landmark, said Scot Bowman, president of the Mansfield Parks Facilities Development Corporation.

“The details are the most important thing,” Bowman said. “There’s practice fields, benches, sidewalks, shade and landscaping, a brand-new and much larger restroom facility. It doesn’t just look better, it also works better. This wasn’t a fly-by-night decision, but thoughtful planning for years.”

Lewis pointed out that the new fencing looks nice, but it’s a lot more than aesthetically pleasing – it’s for safety. He pointed at a young team of baseball players warming up inside a fenced area as balls were flying.

Mayor Michael Evans said that things like parks and ball fields bring the community together.

“Since this park opened, 75,000 players have come here to play,” Evans said. “We understand the importance of renovating our infrastructure and existing facilities. We are proud to step up to the plate for this renovation for our young people.”

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