I want to know why, in most case, baseball diamonds have been built and maintained, without complaint, by taxpayers for decades. When is the last time you saw a trash receptacle tipped over or overflowing at a baseball field after a big game? It's a pretty common site where I'm from. Do the residents complain that the baseball players are belligerent, disrespectful punks and the field should be shut down? No, the taxpayer-funded DPW walks out there like they always do and clean it up... So, why is it that news articles pop up every day regarding fences, monitors and "punishment" closings at skateparks for the same things? I can see the headline now "SKATEPARK CLOSED BECAUSE OF TRASH PROBLEMS"... "we decided to close the skatepark until these kids can learn to respect it and pick up after themselves"... yea, just like the baseball players, right!!!



Now, simple math gives us another look at this- three DPW employees in two trucks for approximately 2 hours totals about $400 out of the coffers every time the field needs to be picked up. Multiply that by 15 weeks and you get what, $6,000 in trash pickup alone for one baseball diamond? Seriously? And let's not forget the public space necessary for a baseball diamond. When a skatepark committee is fighting for 3,000 or 4,000 square feet for a skatepark the ball fields take up more than ten times that... Baseball diamonds don't get crammed in behind the police station, they don't get an old40 year old tennis court (because the Town is spending $90,000 on a new one to replace the bad one) and they don't a tiny sliver of land next to the new dog park... baseball diamonds get the prime land, they get all the funds and they get all the exposure- all so that a bunch of kids can play the Nations pastime for two months... now, I love baseball as much as the next guy (not really but it sounded good) but when is fair fair?




Oh, and when was the last time you heard anyone complain about a baseball diamond being mowed two or three times a week at the taxpayers expense? The average public ball field or city park costs $9,000 per year to mow and maintain, without figuring in the cost of the $30,000 mower...




Skateparks are becoming a necessary element in towns across America and it's time public officials start recognizing the need for at least ONE skatepark in town- especially when there are already multiple tennis, baseball, football, basketball and running facilities.

Over and out...