BY SUE KIESEWETTER
Enquirer Contributor
LIBERTY TOWNSHIP -- There soon will be eight new baseball, softball and soccer fields to accommodate the 3,500 children who participate in the Lakota Sports Organization (LSO).
Groundbreaking on the fields at the 20.7-acre Walter J. Long Memorial Park, 7894 Kyles Station Road, is to start next month, LSO President Ric Welker said. The fields should be ready in time for the fall 1999 season.
"We've owned the land for two years and through fund raising, donations and partnerships are ready to begin developing it into ball fields," Mr. Welker said.
The issue is crucial for the West Chester area. Southern Butler County, particularly Union and Liberty townships, has not been able to keep up with park and recreation space. The area's parks usually are empty during the week but packed on the weekend. This forces residents to book shelters months in advance and youth sports teams to compete for fields.
Participants in the LSO are primarily residents of the Lakota Local School District.
Eventually, the Liberty Township land will be sold to Metroparks of Butler County, which will partner with the LSO to manage and maintain the fields as part of the county park system, said Mike Muska, Metroparks director. Under the agreement, Metroparks will buy the land but work out an agreement for LSO to help maintain the fields and to schedule the organization's games and practices there.
"We're really excited about this project. We still have a lot of work to do to finalize details and the purchase price," Mr. Muska said.
"We've been getting more and more requests to branch out into active recreation like ball fields. Our board has adopted a resolution to move forward with the project and form a partnership with LSO. They'll remain involved for the long term."
LSO will use proceeds from the sale of the land to pay for development of the fields. The project is estimated at about $450,000, which includes the cost of the park, Mr. Welker said. When finished, there will be two full-size fields each for baseball, softball and soccer; two smaller fields for soccer; and picnic tables.
In addition to the planned fields, LSO has access to about 39 fields for its flag football, baseball, softball and soccer programs, Mr. Welker said. Many of those are on property owned by the Lakota Board of Education.
Eventually, as funding becomes available, the LSO plans to turn the house on the property into offices for the organization. The house is now rented out and the barn on the property is used for storage.
"We are continually looking for fields as we grow," Mr. Welker said. "We have not turned away children who sign up by the deadline for our programs. We find the land; we find the volunteers."
