With the first pitch of the local baseball season a little over two weeks away, representatives of the City of Great Bend and other local entities officially cut the ribbon on the Great Bend Sports Complex turf installation project Thursday morning at the Great Bend Chamber of Commerce Coffee.
Great Bend City Administrator Kendal Francis took the opportunity Thursday morning to recognize the partnership the city enjoys with USD 428 and the Great Bend Recreation Commission. The three entities, through a cost-share agreement, were all instrumental in funding the project and seeing it through to completion.
“The only way we were going to be able to (get the project done) was through a partnership, and the school district and Recreation Commission were on board and supportive,” Francis said.
Though the project initially was put on the back burner after Francis arrived in Great Bend in 2018, he said it became clear over time it was a project that needed to get done.
“We wanted to continue to have premier facilities here in Great Bend, Francis said. “We have a great reputation for having excellent facilities. We’re a host of some large tournaments. And we want to continue to do that.”
After long discussions, officials felt investment in turf for the playing fields was going to be necessary to meet that goal, he said.
“I want to commend the governing bodies for all three of the entities who understood the importance of the investment, not only in the facilities, but just in the overall good of Great Bend,” Francis said.
He noted youth sports is a significant economic driver for the area. Chris Umphres, who serves both as GBRC Assistant Superintendent and as a member of the USD 428 Board of Education, said the Sports Complex alone hosts between 275 and 325 teams through various tournaments throughout the year, along with being a host for scholastic and GBRC baseball and softball games during the week.
In particular, Francis recognized Umphres, who he said worked tirelessly behind the scenes spearheading the massive project.
“He was able to help oversee this project and understand some things at a higher level of detail that not only made a difference in the overall project, but (helped us avoid) costly mistakes that were bound to happen if he hadn’t been here overseeing things. I’m very thankful for the work that he’s done,” Francis said.
Francis was quick to highlight the work of the city’s Public Lands Department that oversees the Sports Complex and several other facilities, including the airport, multiple parks, Brit Spaugh Zoo, and other buildings and outdoors spaces. Specifically, he thanked Scott Keeler, Public Lands Director, and Supervisor Dale Henning, along with Pat Hastings and Adam Schneweis, full-time employees responsible for maintaining the complex.
“If you do the math, 2,000 (acres overseen) divided by 28 employees, you can see that they’re tasked with quite a bit of responsibility, and we’re appreciative of that,” Francis said.
Multiple representatives from all three entities were in attendance, including GBRC Executive Director Diann Henderson, USD 428 Superintendent Khris Thexton, Great Bend Mayor Cody Schmidt, and other supervisors, administrators and board members from each of the three organizations, along with members of the Great Bend Chamber of Commerce.
Turf project background
The roughly $1.4 million project to improve the Sports Complex facility is more than a year in the making. The goal of the project was to improve the baseball and softball infields and bullpens on the five fields at the complex with the installation of synthetic turf.
A cost share agreement for the project was initially approved by the three entities in February and March of 2021, with the City of Great Bend agreeing to 60%, or about $920,000 of the total cost. USD 428 agreed pitch in $280,000, or about 20%. The Rec Commission agreed to the other 20%, as well as being responsible for annual upkeep of the new turf infields.
In early 2021, the three entities received letters of support from multiple baseball and softball governing bodies, voicing support for the project, saying it would make the continued hosting of tournaments at the facility more feasible for their organizations.
In November 2021, the entities also agreed to the addition of a batting cages and bullpens on Field 5, Langherer Field at the complex. Those improvements added an additional $49,234 to the project, again split 60/20/20 by the three entities. Work was done by Austin, Texas-based Hellas Construction, and was officially completed late last month.
The original impetus for the project goes back to October 2018, when a committee was formed to study the feasibility of a potential turf project. The committee included City Clerk Shawna Schafer, council members Jolene Biggs and Cory Urban, Thexton, Umphres and community representative Shawn Behr. Members wanted the turf wrapped up in the to-be-developed master plan for the facility.
The issue was first raised in August 2018 when Mike Minton of the Great Bend Bombers youth baseball organization urged the city to install artificial turf at the Great Bend Sports Complex. The goal would be to make the city more competitive in attracting tournaments to town, while providing safer fields that are less susceptible to having games rained out.
