HAMLET — The Hamlet City Council approved a budget of up to $10,000 to be put towards revitalizing the baseball infield at Memorial Park on Tuesday.
The council approved the budget without a formal resolution after American Legion Post 49’s Chip Gordon offered to do the labor for free.
“The infield dirt needs to be revamped, dirt added, needs netting on the backstop, an outfield fence,” said Gordon. “It would take about $10,000 to make Memorial Park playable again for American Legion and for any event the city would want to host on that field.”
He added, “I’m offering to provide all the labor for renovation. I’ll bring my equipment, a tractor, to do all the maintenance to get the field ready.”
Gordon offered to keep up the maintenance of the field on and off-season for baseball. He said in 2021, there could be a chance to hold the American Legion State Baseball tournament.
“The last two times, they passed,” said Gordon. “No team wanted to host in that area.”
He also suggested a way for the City to get a return on its investment.
“The City could stock and run the concession stand to recuperate the money,” said Gordon.
He also said the American Legion would pay a rental fee before the first game on the field.
When Mayor Bayless asked how Post 49 would get more players, Gordon says they’ve changed a rule.
“American Legion upped the age to 19… so graduated seniors who want to play can join if they played on the Richmond High or Scotland High baseball team,” said Gordon. “We have 14 committed players so far.”
Council Member Eddie Martin chimed in, saying the change could be good for Hamlet.
“I, for one, would love to see an American Legion team come back to Hamlet,” said Martin. “It’s a win-win situation if Mr. Gordon is going to provide all the equipment, the labor and the work and the cleaning. All we got to do is is fix the lights and pay for the materials. To me, it would be great for the younger kids in our area to play but also it would draw kids from other areas.
The council, with only four of the six members present, approved for Gordon to work with City Manager Jonathan Blanton to fix the baseball field, with a budget up to $10,000.
Jael Pembrick can be reached at 910-506-3169 or [email protected].