Now that Derby will receive millions from the state for a running track and a new football field, it is time to answer the tough question — in a city with no open space, where should a baseball field go?
The school district has scheduled a forum for 6:30 p.m. Oct. 25 at Derby Middle School, 73 Chatfield St. in an effort to figure it out.
“The purpose of the forum is to have public discussion about the possible relocation of the baseball field and give all stakeholders the opportunity to speak on any issues they feel are pertinent to the initiative,” according to a press release from Derby Public Schools.
The State Bonding Commission approved $2.9 million for Derby in September so the city and the schools could:
- Build an 8‑lane rubberized track at the Leo F. Ryan Athletic Complex on Chatfield Street.
- Build an artificial turf football field at the Ryan Athletic Complex.
*- Build a new field house at the Ryan Athletic Complex.- (DROPPED FROM PLAN)
The work at the Ryan Athletic Complex is forcing the baseball field there, which is used by the Derby High School baseball team, to move somewhere else.
Two sites are under consideration for the baseball field, according to Derby Public Schools:
1. The Buddy Amendola Sports Complex (behind the Bradley School on David Humphreys Road)
2. Witek Park
The Buddy Amendola Sports Complex is used by Derby High School junior varsity softball, freshman baseball, junior varsity boys soccer, and junior varsity girls soccer, according to information on the Derby Public Schools website.
Witek Park is used by Derby High School junior varsity boys soccer and junior varsity girls soccer.
Also, Derby Youth Soccer has 12 teams of kids from ages 5 to 14 using Witek Park for soccer practices and games in the spring and fall. They’re worried a baseball field at Witek Park will cause soccer to lose 50 percent of their space at Witek Park.
Derby Youth Soccer sent out an email Oct. 17 urging soccer parents to follow the issue and to make their voices heard.
“Taking away half of the space used by Derby Youth Soccer on a permanent basis would severely impact the development of our program and the players in the program,” the email read.
When the field proposals were first floated in 2015, Derby Youth Soccer volunteers complained they were being left out of the planning process, and that the decisions were being made too quickly.
Derby Second Ward Alderman Art Gerckens also raised questions about the transparency of a “task force” that was studying the issue, noting that the public was not being formally noticed about its meetings.
NOTE: The writer is a volunteer assistant coach with his son’s Derby Youth Soccer first-grade team.
This article was originally published Oct. 18.
