Baseball, softball project continues forward
OTTUMWA — The Ottumwa Community School District Board of Education approved two of the more important pieces of the proposed renovations of Legion Memorial Field, as well as construction of a new high school softball field in Ottumwa Park. During Monday's meeting at Career Campus, the board unanimously voted to go with Axiom Consulting and Engineers for the design of the project, and then approved the conception design that will house baseball and softball in the same place. Superintendent Mike McGrory said the district has $5 million budgeted for the project, and that by going with a civil engineering firm, the district could save on costs.
The district hopes the project will come in under budget, and adjustments to the baseball field could help that cause. The contract is for $185,000, or about 3. 7% of the total estimated cost of the project.
McGrory said going with an architecture firm would have been more expensive. The project is scheduled to begin later this summer, and the new complex open for the 2027 season. "We vetted this with other schools that had gone with a civil engineer, and they had a lot of success with it," McGrory told the board.
"An architect would probably be between 7. 5 and 8. 5, so it's a significant cost savings, and we're utilizing this as an opportunity to save costs on the project.
" The project will place grass at Legion Memorial Field and install turf, based on the wishes of a committee formed to examine what the playing surface would look like. A committee overwhelmingly wanted grass for the softball field, which will be located off the first-base side of the baseball field. District officials seemed to be won over by turf for the baseball field after a visit to Duane Banks Field on the University of Iowa campus.