Resurfacing complete at Bridge Sports Complex baseball fields, but more work to be done before start of the Little League season

“I got to get them done by [April 13],” said Droo Callahan, executive director of the Bridge Sports Complex.

The new bleachers cost the city $92,572.

The bleachers, which sit higher off the ground than the ones currently in place, were ordered to remediate the blind spots created by the fields’ new backstops.

Callahan sought approval for the purchase through Bridgeport City Council, which approved it earlier this month.

The company they purchased the bleachers from guaranteed their arrival by April 1; they came a full week early. Callahan called this a good problem to have, citing the impending start of the Little League baseball season.

At that early March council meeting, Callahan said people could expect to see him “out there with a screwdriver,” getting them installed.

The installation work will be done primarily by Callahan, along with any of The Bridge and City Parks of Bridgeport staff he can “beg, borrow and steal,” he said jokingly.

The old bleachers are to be refurbished so they can be used at other facilities within The Bridge Sports Complex, and in other Bridgeport city parks, Callahan said.

He noted that the bleachers that are being replaced are still in good condition, but that they were not entirely usable in their current location due to the new backstops.

Renovations to The Bridge Sports Complex’s four baseball fields first began last September with upgrades to the dirt infields of the complex’s four fields. The infields were replaced with turf.

“We still have a long list of things we’ll keep working on throughout the summer,” Callahan said.

Staff is still fixing the warning track, and working to roll the outfields, using a similar tool that they use to roll asphalt, Callahan said. This flattens the surface after it clumps up over the winter months, thus making a smooth mowing surface.

The Bridge Sports Complex’s employees are also renovating the bathrooms, as well as working on the scoreboards, foul poles and backstops, Callahan said.

A ribbon cutting will be held at 10:45 a.m. April 13 at The Bridge Sports Complex’s baseball fields for the start of the season.

Once the season begins, the fields will be in use seven days a week. High school teams, the Fairmont State University baseball team and the Salem University softball team will play home games at The Bridge.

Fairmont State will play its first few games at West Virginia University’s baseball field in Morgantown to give The Bridge sod time to properly settle, Callahan said.