Complex decision for village

If you’re looking for little league action in Lisbon, there’s only one stage in town. But it wasn’t always that way.

The Dickey baseball/softball complex is home to the Lisbon Baseball Softball Association and its 253 players, ages 5-18 that play on 20 teams.

Constructed in 2001 and located on Lisbon Road, the complex has eight fields, an equipment barn/concession stand, a batting cage and a pavilion. The complex recently hosted the Division III district softball tournament and is home to the Lisbon High School softball and baseball teams.

David Tolson, president of LBSA, said it was the dream of Allen Dickey, who owned D.W. Dickey and Sons Inc., to have a baseball and softball complex that was centrally located.

“Mr. Dickey donated the land and paid for all the fields, and the East Fairfield Coal Company donated the excavating,” Tolson said. “In 2002, the first three softball fields were built when our lease expired at another facility in town.”

The 9-10 and 11-12 baseball fields were added in 2003 while a tee ball and 7-8 baseball field were created in 2004. In 2005, the high school baseball and pony league fields were finished.

Before the complex was created, ballfields were scattered throughout the village.

Tolson, who leads a five-person executive board and six trustees that comprise the LBSA, says it’s a collective effort that makes everything possible.

— by Ryan Jones, Vindicator correspondent