Mayor Jason Whalen, Deputy Mayor Mary Moss and members of the Lakewood City Council were joined this week at Fort Steilacoom Park for a groundbreaking ceremony. Peirce College Chancellor Dr. Julie White, Puyallup campus President Dr. Chio Flores, Athletic Director Duncan Stevenson and state Rep. Mari Leavitt were all there.
Golden shovels in hand, the group celebrated a partnership between the city and Pierce College. The fields at Fort Steilacoom Park will be transformed. The project wouldn’t be possible without the support of 28th and 29th state legislators. They helped secure state funding for the improvements.
The city and Pierce College are collaborating on the development of a collegiate sized baseball field with additional amenities. The field will become the home field complex for the college’s Raiders baseball program. The city will also add synthetic turf to its other ballfields.
Field 1 will be developed to meet National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) standards. Features of the complex include:
- Full-field synthetic turf
- A new backstop
- Expanded and accessible spectator seating
- Field lighting
- New dugouts
- Fencing
- Batting cages
- A press box
- Scoreboard
- Storage areas
- Safety elements and utilities
The project is estimated at over $7 million. Pierce College will pay the full cost to build the home field and additional improvements. The city will contribute $1.6 million in grant funding to the project.
The city’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Board was consulted as the project moved through its preliminary design phases. The Lakewood City Council reviewed and approved contracts and recommended a preferred location for the complex.
Permit applications were submitted in January. Construction activity is anticipated to begin the week of Aug. 7, 2023 with the installation of fencing around the field.
Additional updates and details about construction and impacts on the park and public access to the ball fields will be shared as the project progresses.
Being a baseball fan, I can’t wait to watch some games on the new field. Hoping my alma mater (Lakes HS) will play a night game or two there.
This is great news on several fronts. The Raiders will be able to play at home on a quality field. Their Baseball program is well respected.
Fields 2-4 will receive turf infields which will increase their “rentability”. Turf fields around the region are heavily sought after by tournament hosts. The present fields were well used but there was hesitancy in booking March-May and September-October. Tournaments can bring hundreds of teams from throughout the region and even out of State. The players and families spend money in our local stores, restaurants, hotels and gas stations.
However, there are concerns that these updated fields will be priced out of the range of local recreational programs. These will be the first turf fields operated by Lakewood Parks & Recreation. Lakewood Baseball Club is the only local youth recreational baseball program in Lakewood that offers low cost access to baseball. Lakewood Parks have always been supportive of Lakewood Baseball Club in having access to the Ft. Steilacoom fields. They have worked with the larger tournament hosts, securing access to one field for part of important Saturday games. Will there still be affordable access?
With the partnership with Pierce College on field one, there has not been mention regarding if this field will also be available for rental. If not available, this puts increased pressure on the remaining 3 fields.
As the baseball coach at then Fort Steilacoom CC from 1977-1982 this is GREAT news – just too bad that it took 40 years to get this project done as hundreds of former players were forced to play and practice on sub par fields – including the old Western State Hospital Field that was home of the Raiders during my time as the coach.
I look forward to seeing this new complex when it is completed and good luck to the Raiders.
Would be nice to have turf soccer fields too for rent. We could host a bigger tournament right here in Lakewood