By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
A $1.8 million artificial turf project is nearing completion at Bickle-Schmidt Sports Complex.
The turf should be ready for play when the season starts later this spring. Jeff Boyle, Hays parks director, said installation of the turf has gone smoothly.
New shade structures, scoreboards and a new playground area have also been added to the park in the last three years.
"I think what we've done here is pretty unbeatable in the state," Boyle said. "There's a lot of nice facilities to go to, but we're in the top tier of those," he said.
"I think we are going to see a huge increase in participation, and I think the overall experience is going to be so much better."
Artificial turf was added to the infields of all eight of the baseball/softball fields at the complex. The project also included turfing of the bullpens.
The addition of turf will allow guaranteed play even when it rains. Boyle said this is important to teams wishing to schedule tournaments at the complex.
He said he expects an increase in tournament play at the complex, which will likely bring more visitors to the community.
Families who travel for summer ball tournaments often bring their entire families. They stay in hotels, eat out, buy gas and shop. This not only benefits local businesses, but brings in more revenue for the city and county in the form of sales tax, Boyle said.
When the project was approved by the Hays City Commission in May 2021, Commissioner Shaun Musil cited a report from the Fort Hays State University Docking Institute that said the sports complex brought more than $1 million to the community in 2018.
Teams can sign up for summer youth baseball and fast-pitch softball, as well as adult softball tournaments, through the Bickle-Schmidt Sports Complex website.
The City of Hays paid a little more than $1 million toward the project out of its capital reserve fund with the Hays Recreation Commission paying the rest of the $750,000. The city's portion of the project was funded through its share of the 1/4 cent Ellis County sales tax.
Operation costs should decrease with the addition of the new surface, Boyle said. High winds regularly shifted the fine dirt from the infields off the fields. The city invested considerable time and effort, spreading that dirt back on the fields.
The dirt that was removed from the Bickle-Schmidt fields has been used to replace infield dirt at Auble-Bickle Park and Dusty Glassman Ball Field. The city hired a laser grader company to grade the fields so they shed water appropriately.
The city also hopes to add new infield dirt to the Hank Speier Ball Field from dirt that was left over from Bickle-Schmidt project.
The addition of the new infield dirt at these facilities should create much better playing surfaces, Boyle said.
Reconfiguration of fields will also allow 13 and younger players to play at Bickle-Schmidt.
This also will be the first full year new shade structures at Bickle-Schmidt will be in use. They were constructed last summer at a cost of $451,000. New scoreboards were also added at all eight ballfields in 2021.
Two years ago, a new shaded playground area was added to the southwest quad at the complex.
Although the shade structures, scoreboards and playground equipment were separate projects from the turf, Boyle said all four projects combined will greatly improved the experience for fans and athletes at the complex.