Abandoned baseball field to be revitalized
Driving past the old Bush Field, Pine Bluff Ward 3 Council Member Lanette Frazier saw potential for revitalizing a field of dreams.
“What started is finding out that we had $25,000 in our discretionary funds, and I know that’s not a lot,” Frazier said. “But, I was trying to find out a tangible way to serve the whole community instead of a few people. I didn’t want to single out folks because it takes a community to keep a community.”
On Tuesday, Frazier revealed to community members her plan for revitalizing the abandoned Junior Babe Ruth field at 2601 Arlington St. into a multi-use facility with baseball, football and basketball surfaces; a playground; and a skate park. Frazier successfully petitioned the City Council to accept the donation of the ballpark from B.R.A.V.E., the Pine Bluff chapter of the International Association of Black Professional Fire Fighters.
The City Council agreed to accept the ballpark with an 8-0 vote.
“I was grateful for [that], because it could have been something different,” Frazier said. “Since that day, we’ve been working every day to make this happen. I’ve been reaching out to the community because I know my $25,000 won’t cover everything. The blessing is that there are people who are still living who remember the ballpark, played on the ballpark and are wanting to help. We have a lot of citizens wanting to revive this — Black, white, everybody.”
The most valuable piece to the revitalization — the labor — will come for free, thanks to the support of locals. One citizen, Frazier said, contributed $235 to the effort, and that will be presented to the City Council on Monday to go directly to the park.
The United Way of SouthIn
east Arkansas confirmed it will help improve Bush Field for its Day of Caring on Friday.
“We’re excited. The community seems to be excited, and I can’t wait for everything to come to fruition,” Frazier said.
So is Creston Thomas, pastor of Christ the Redeemer Church on West 20th Avenue.
Born and raised in Pine Bluff, Thomas managed to get members of a Baptist association from Missouri who were going to work on his church to volunteer with rehabbing Bush Field. Those volunteers will be in Pine Bluff Oct. 8-13.
“Every Sunday and Wednesday, we’re out in the community, and the kids are asking for things to do,” Thomas said. “They’re crying out for things to do. They come out and play basketball behind the church, but they just want so much more. We always pray, ‘What would it look like for this field to open up and this community finally be able to have a place for the kids to come out to and better use their time to learn various different other activities?’ Once I heard about the possibilities of what could happen, I was on board to see this happen.”
On Tuesday, Frazier revealed to community members her plan for revitalizing the abandoned Junior Babe Ruth field ... . Frazier successfully petitioned the City Council to accept the donation of the ballpark from B.R.A.V.E., the Pine Bluff chapter of the International Association of Black Professional Fire Fighters.