By Adam Smith

The North Jefferson News



Work on Gardendale’s Miracle League field has seen more progress over the last two weeks in preparation for a spring opening.

Ongoing site work at Pate Field at Luman Harris Park has included the tearing down of an outside fence and grading of the field. The city council agreed to designate Pate Field as the Miracle League field at an October council meeting.

In early November, it was announced that the city would receive a $50,000 Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs grant to put toward the cost of a synthetic playing surface.

Jeff Dennis, who has spearheaded the city’s Miracle League efforts, said the project is still about $10,000 to $15,000 away from completion. However, he said he is excited about the work that has already been accomplished at the field site.

“Once the decision was made to give us the playing field, things moved really quickly,” he said. “People have been hearing us talk about this for years and now they can see the site prep.”

On Dec. 1, the council opened bids on a synthetic playing surface for the field. However, those bids may be rejected at Monday’s council meeting because the surfaces from the two lowest bidders have been deemed too soft for use on the field, which would affect how walkers and wheelchairs are able to move on the field.

The softness of the playing surface is measured by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards, which are often applied to playground surfaces. Hogeland said the standard for the Miracle League playing surface had to meet the criteria of cushioning a fall of four feet or higher. The surface also has to be completely latex-free, to avoid the possibility of an allergic reaction to the surface.

Companies who bid on the surface will be required to provide a letter stating the playing surface is latex-free.

The next round of bids would likely be opened at the Jan. 5 council meeting, though Hogeland said he didn’t know if the bids could be awarded on the same night.

In the meantime, he and Dennis have been gathering bids for asphalt work that will have to be done on the field before the synthetic surface can be installed. Hogeland said a timetable on the asphalt and surface installation is dependent on the weather over the course of the next two months.

“I’m optimistic for spring ball, but I’m not ready to put a deadline on it,” he said. “We’re not going to push the issue and have an inferior product just to meet a deadline.”