It might be time for the Town of Drayton Valley to spruce up its ball diamonds.
At the Town’s Nov. 24 meeting, the town received a visit from Keila Zorn of the Drayton Valley and District Slo Pitch Society (DVSP). DVSP is the organization that currently looks after the ball diamonds at Brazeau Sports Park.
In her presentation, Zorn presented a wish list for upgrades to the park that totaled over $1 million. Some of the upgrades they are looking at are installing new backstops with sunshades, paving the parking lot, constructing a new building on site, and even building a playground.
DVSP knows that it cannot all be done at once, so their list is prioritized and they are starting with the most essential items first. First thing they want to look at is adding some bear-proof garbage bins on site, and getting 200 tonnes of shale to get the ball diamonds up to spec.
According to Zorn, the ball diamonds were initially built incorrectly, leading to drainage issues, adding that shale would go a long way to fixing that.
DVSP is hoping to get a grant to cover the costs. The grant requires the Town to provide matching funds, which would be approximately $56,000. Brazeau County has already pledged a share, and DVSP was hoping the Town could provide the remainder.
Mayor Nancy Dodds did ask Zorn how well last season went. Zorn shared that it has not been going very well, between COVID-19 and games being rained out. Going back to the issues with the shale, Zorn highlighted that not a lot of teams want to use the diamonds, because they take too long to dry out after a rainstorm.
Council thanked Zorn for her report.
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