Mayor dedicates new park, baseball diamond
“Creating a park and ball diamond here is a great use of this land,” said Mayor Henry. “The site is on a flood plain and now absorbs flood waters with the removal of asphalt, concrete, a trailer park and apartment buildings. Impervious materials were recycled and now the community has a great new green space to enjoy.”
The Parks and Recreation Department completed demolition and clean up in 2007, removing 89,467 square feet of asphalt, concrete and old trailers. Green building practices were used in the creation of this park, including recycling the concrete and asphalt that was removed, and the use of biosolids to make the lawn healthy. Low-energy sports lighting and recycled construction materials were also enlisted in the Department's efforts to create a new home for Carrington Field.
The original Carrington Field was located at Johnny Appleseed Park, but was displaced by the building of Memorial Baseball Stadium in 1992. A new field was created across Coliseum Blvd. on IPFW property in 1993, where it hosted amateur baseball games for 15 years. Lease of IPFW's land came to an end this year, and good fortune occurred when three business men donated the property at 742 N. Coliseum Blvd. to the Department, and the new Daryl B. Cobin Memorial Park will be open in time for baseball this summer.
Steve Cobin, Harold Belkin and Jeffrey Cagan are the former owners of the 6.3 acre site. Mr. Cobin attended today's ceremony, as the park was named in memory of his son Daryl B. Cobin.
“The Fort Wayne Baseball Federation and Fort Wayne Community Schools have been our partners in creating this new park,” said Al Moll, Director of Parks & Recreation. “During our planning phase, the Federation was very active in helping us determine the configuration of the diamond. Fort Wayne Community Schools' Anthis Construction Trades students helped with construction of the dug outs and installation electrical wiring to the scoreboard and dugouts.”
Amateur baseball will be seen this year with Fort Wayne Baseball Federation games. Next year, the North Side High School baseball will call Carrington Field home.
The scoreboard was donated by Crumback Symons Chevrolet, Inc., and the posts were donated by Omni Source. Erie Haven provided services, and consultants included GAI for engineering plans, Palermo Construction for demolition and Brooks for construction. The project received funding assistance from the Fort Wayne Park Foundation, the Park Bond, the Mayor's CEDIT pledge and City Council District 1.
“With the donation of land and shared costs for the project, this new park and baseball diamond are great examples of a true public-private partnership,” said Moll.