The Moundridge Recreation Commission softball and baseball fields will soon have a new space for controlling the scoreboards and overseeing the games.
On Thursday, Nathan Guyer, a production specialist at the Grasshopper Company, presented MRC Director Jeremy Moore with a check for a donation from Grasshopper to cover the cost of a new press box. Moundridge City Administrator Jeremy Johnson also attended the ceremony.
According to Moore, two metal containers will be purchased and stacked on top of each other. The bottom will be used for storing the equipment used to prepare the fields for play, and the top will have windows installed so it can be a press box for both fields.
The current media gallery has fallen into disrepair. Portions of the wooden structure are beginning to rot or otherwise deteriorate, including the stairs that lead up to the press box. This has caused the structure to become unsafe and an eyesore, according to Moore and Johnson.
To ensure everyone’s safety, the new press box will only be accessible via internal stairs that will be located within the lower half of the structure.
Once completed, the new structure will be 12 feet wide and 20 feet long, compared to the current building’s footprint of 18 feet wide and 14 feet long.
Moore said the new combined storage facility and press box will be slightly taller than the old one, which is already being torn down.
MRC employees and high school students Finn Lintecum, 17, and Cole Schrag, 16, began the demolition shortly after the check presentation.
Moore plans to have the old press box completely removed next week, making way for the new structure to be built.
