San Benito County supervisors voted Tuesday to put nearly
$30,000 in county funds toward building a new soccer field and a
softball field at Veterans Memorial Park.
Hollister – San Benito County supervisors voted Tuesday to put nearly $30,000 in county funds toward building a new soccer field and a softball field at Veterans Memorial Park.
The $28,000, which will come from a park and recreation impact fee account, will cover about half the cost of building the fields, Assistant Director of Public Works Peter Corn told supervisors during their first meeting of the new year. The remainder of the cost will be contributed by the local leagues that will use the fields – the Hollister Tremors youth soccer league and the Hollister Heat girls softball league, he said.
“I think this is a great project,” Supervisor Anthony Botelho said, “and I think it shows that partnerships can and will work.”
The soccer field will replace the dirt bike track currently located at the park. The track was built about three years ago, but was closed after only eight months because of a lack of a concessionaire – who was to have the duel role of selling refreshments and supervising the track.
Local bike riders, however, likely won’t miss the dirt bike track once it’s covered over with sod. Since the county stopped maintaining it, the track has become overgrown with weeds and tire-popping thorns. Bike riders have said that they would prefer a concrete bike park like the skateboard facility located at Veterans Memorial Park over a dirt track.
Construction on the two new fields will start as soon as things have a chance to dry off from the weekend’s storms, according to Corn. If all goes smoothly, construction should take about a month-and-a-half, he said.
Corn said that the two leagues will have exclusive use of the new fields for scheduled games, but the fields will be open to the public when games are not being played. The leagues will maintain the fields, he said.
