Do-it-yourself upgrade improves softball complex

The Belleville Softball Complex on South Bend’s west side has hosted the U.S. Women’s Olympic Gold Medal Softball Team three times, in addition to annual national championships for the Amateur Softball Association since 1999.

The Belleville Softball Complex on South Bend’s west side has hosted annual national championships and has received numerous awards.

In 2010, the Belleville Softball Complex received the James M. Farrell Award of Excellence from the Amateur Softball Association for having evaluation scores that were among the highest in the United States for a tournament host facility. The award is given to outstanding host cities, which must receive at least a 90 percent rating from the ASA representative, participating teams, umpires and the national office.

Belleville has won the Farrell award 14 times.

But something else happened in 2010 that demonstrates how the City of South Bend manages to have one of the nation’s premier softball facilities since Belleville opened in June 1997.

Maintenance staff with the South Bend Parks and Recreation Department completed a total reconstruction of the Blue Field at the Belleville Softball Complex and constructed and completed a fifth diamond at the complex. Park crews raised the sinking ball field with more than 4,500 tons of new dirt. They graded the field, installed an irrigation system and surrounding fence and laid 80,000 square feet of sod to complete the project.

“These in-house efforts saved the department significant dollars that we were able to spend on other neighborhood park upgrades,” said Phil St. Clair, director of the South Bend Parks and Recreation Department.

The upgrades also speak to the skills and abilities of maintenance staff, whose previous projects have included the finished woodworking that graces the board room at the O’Brien Recreation Center.

The South Bend Parks and Recreation Department completed a total reconstruction of the Blue Field at the Belleville Softball Complex in 2010.

In times of tight municipal budgets, the South Bend Parks and Recreation Department finds many ways of making tax dollars stretch further. In 2010, the department received support from more than 10,400 volunteer hours performed by community groups and individuals. Volunteers assisted in a variety of activities: cleaning parks and riverbanks, staffing recreation and Potawatomi Zoo programs, assisting in special events and fund-raisers and helping with park and equipment upgrades. The total value of this volunteer time exceeded $182,000. The department also created South Bend’s first Park Foundation, which will seek funding and capital-development resources for the department.

As for the Belleville Softball Complex, the trend promises to continue. Belleville recently was awarded an ASA national tournament for 2012 – the 16-inch A National Tournament.

“We are delighted to be selected to host these ASA national championships year after year,” St. Clair says. “These events generate visitor spending within our community, as well as provide South Bend area residents with an opportunity to see the very best in men’s and women’s softball.”