The Oconto Falls School Board approved a proposal Feb. 10 to build a high school varsity baseball field near the new middle school, as well as excavation for a future second ball diamond.
The unanimous decision followed several months of discussion and a request by Trent Maloney Memorial Inc. (TMM) last April asking the school board to commit to building the two fields and allow the nonprofit to help seek donations.
TMM is named after a 9-year-old boy who died Feb. 28, 2020, of complications from cardiac arrest a few weeks earlier. The group has provided more than $6,000 in scholarships to Oconto Falls High School students over the past two years. Its biggest event is a baseball and softball tournament on the second Saturday in August, which started in 2021.
The group’s stated goal was for the class of 2029, to which Trent belonged, to be able to play on the new field when they reach high school.
With Oconto Falls Middle School on schedule to open in September and coming in under budget, Superintendent Dean Hess said funds are available from the project contingency fund and money saved thus far.
“We’re pretty confident, given that we’re 78% percent done with the project, that there’s going to be between $1.5 million and $2 million between contingency and under-budget,” Hess said. “You don’t hear that very often in capital projects like this around the state. Usually they’re behind and over budget.”
Hess presented three estimates for the board’s consideration.
• “Good” – $975,000 would cover excavation for one baseball field, including seeding and erosion control; site utilities such as sewer, stormwater and a sprinkler system; and the actual field with a turf infield and dugouts.
• “Better” – $1.5 million for everything in the Good column plus excavation for a future second field, along with upgraded dugouts and batting cages.
• “Best” – $1.9 million to add a second baseball field with a natural grass surface and dugouts.
“One of the things that came out of those planning meetings was that by having a turf infield, it allows kids to get on the field earlier in the spring,” Hess said.
It’s not unusual for baseball practice to be happening in gymnasiums because of snow and ice that lingers into April and beyond, he said.
Doing excavation for the second field makes it easier to add the second field if funds become available, Hess said.
The high school baseball team currently plays at Memorial Field, but it’s necessary to have some practices at Abrams Elementary School 14 miles away, he noted.
“To be able to have a field (at the middle school) would allow us, between Memorial Field and a field here, we wouldn’t be having to bus kids out of town,” Hess said. “And I think that was a significant focus as I was listening to people.”
The proposal doesn’t include a concession stand, bathrooms, concrete for the plaza or lights, Hess said, adding that addressing all the possibilities could tip the cost into multiple millions of dollars.
Some board members were hesitant to make a decision immediately, in part because of a lack of much community feedback and because the field is just one of several projects that were eliminated from a failed $49.9 million referendum question that included the new middle school. A second, $37.4 million referendum passed in November 2022.
“We serve the taxpayers of the district,” said board member Emilie Trudell. “We also serve the students and the staff, and I think we all want to be mindful of the dollars that we have saved.”
Board President Clint Gardebrecht said he understands the hesitation, because this is one of the largest projects the board has considered outside of referendums in his 15 years on the board.
“I respect everyone’s comments in wanting to be cautious, but personally I look at this and say we’ve talked about this topic at no less than four or five board meetings,” Gardebrecht said. “We’ve thrown around numbers in these kind of neighborhoods and my phone has not been ringing off the hook, nor have I received a ton of emails off the hook.”
“You can say that the absence of feedback is feedback,” added board member Carrie Hill. “Like you said, we have talked about this at several meetings. We’ve talked about it in the community. I haven’t run into anybody that doesn’t believe that we should move forward with something.”
Hill made a motion to approve the “Good” option for $975,000, but after further discussion the board decided on the “Better” plan that includes excavation for the second field.
“If we could just take that little extra jump, at least we have the base for a second field for the future, and we’re doing it at a cost-efficient point right now,” said Vice President Bryan Baumler.
wbluhm@newmedia-wi.com
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