S. Range: Rebuild and they will come

NORTH LIMA — The school district giveth and the school district taketh away.

That scenario applies to the situation being played out in the area of the old Green Beaver fields, where a new K-12 campus is being planned by the South Range school district.

As a result, the South Range Baseball and Softball Association has been hit-by-pitch.

Elimination of the fields doesn’t make the school district the villain, but it does leave the community’s sports association with a dilemma and a whole lot of fund-raising ahead.

The association uses 25 of the roughly 60-acre plot for its fields as well as space for soccer and football.

District needs site for new school, campus

But, following passage of a levy and commitment from the state to fund 52 percent of the costs, the district will proceed with building a new school on the property.

“We found out in the last few months,” Mike Helon, vice-president of South Range baseball, said of the school district’s plans. “That leaves us without a place to practice and play.”

He estimates that 580 youths ages 5 to 15 will be affected.

“I’m not trying to attack anyone because the district is doing what it should do, but now our association has to build from the ground up.”

Approximately 300 kids are involved in the baseball and softball programs, 200 in soccer and 80 in football.

“They had no choice,” Helon said of the school district, emphasizing that there’s no animosity. “The district tried every way possible to build so there would be room left for youth programs. But once the architects studied the area and allowed for wetlands, there was no usable space for our organization.”

League, players have been beneficiaries

For the past 25 to 30 years, the association and youngsters from Beaver and Green townships and the North Lima area have been the beneficiaries.

“The school always owned [it] and leased it for a few bucks,” Helon said. “Basically, they let us use it as our own; when they had the opportunity to build [on] this site, it was a no-brainer.”

The displacement has given rise to the South Range youth athletic committee, which is charged with the duty of finding land and then construction of facilities.

The recently formed committee combines representatives from the separate entities: baseball and softball associations, the soccer association and the Little Raiders youth football program.

“We’re resigned to the fact that we have to find a new place,” Helon said. “Our purpose is to raise enough to purchase land; that’s what we need to focus on. That’s a pretty big mountain to climb when you look at the cost of property out there. Once we have land, each organization will do its own fund-raising for development of that land. All of those programs will be pulling together to build our facility.”

Donation of property would be welcomed

Helon said the South Range youth athletic committee will be seeking donations and all the help it can get. It would especially welcome a donation of property.

“The initial cost could be in the hundreds of thousands in land alone and maybe $600,000 to $700,000 when it’s all said and done. We’re talking to some property owners who would either donate or sell to us.”

Approximately 50 acres will be needed, Helon estimates, taking into consideration space for the various activities, concession stand and parking.

The South Range baseball and softball sports complex, known as Green Beaver fields until five years ago, is at the corner of 46 and Green Beaver Road in Beaver Twp. That location — about 5 miles from the current high school — will be the site of the new schools and campus.

Football stadium setting to stay, for time being

Only the South Range High football stadium — in a very pastoral setting — will remain for the immediate future.

New school construction is scheduled to start in September, when Green Beaver dugouts will be demolished and land graded.

The last official sporting event will be an all-star baseball/softball tournament in July, Helon said.

A farewell-to-fields night in August will also serve as a fund-raiser.

“We’ll have a movie night on a big screen — like a drive-in theatre,” Helon said.

If separate facilities — rather than shared space — and lighted fields are part of the outcome, the future may not be as bleak as anticipated.

But there’s one drawback: the greenback.

XJohn Bassetti is a sports reporter for The Vindicator. Write to him at bassetti@vindy.com.