BY CHARLEE BEASOR
CNHI
PLAINFIELD — Saturday marked the historic opening day of the Plainfield Youth Athletic Complex.
Though a short ceremony and the first pitch of the youth baseball league were set to a backdrop of rain, participants still turned out to see the first activity on the completed baseball diamonds.
“I want to welcome you today on behalf of the town, in the rain,” Town Council member Renea Whicker said.
The 58-acre site is at 455 W. Main St., Plainfield, south of the intersection of U.S. 40 and Vestal Road. When completed, it will have facilities for soccer, football, cheerleading, baseball, and a field made of synthetic surface for adults and youth with disabilities.
The Plainfield Optimist Club youth baseball league is the first league to use the facility. Previously, they used facilities at Lovell Field, but due to a developmental project the lease there couldn’t be renewed and the league needed somewhere else to play.
Plainfield Optimist President John Reel said, “We are very proud to represent a group of citizens and it is an honor today to honor special individuals. This is a super day for all of us. We owe a great deal of gratitude (to those who made it possible). Thank you to everybody. This is a state-of-the-art facility and we promise to continue this for the next 50 years.”
The facilities were made possible by an agreement between the Town of Plainfield, the Indiana Department of Corrections, the Optimist Club, as well as individuals and corporations who donated to the complex.
Al Bennett, who is on the fundraising committee for the complex, said none of it would be possible without all the separate entities coming together.
“This is certainly a day to remember,” he said. “The agreement was signed on June of ‘07. After many years of not having a place to replace the field at Lovell Field, the agreement between the two municipalities, the town and the state, (makes it possible). Our special thanks to the town of Plainfield. This agreement allows the community to develop the first youth athletic complex. We are confident this will be a great youth athletic complex and great for the Optimists of Plainfield.”
Clay Chafin, director of the Plainfield Parks and Recreation Department, said when the complex is complete there will be two football fields, five baseball diamonds, including the synthetic surface diamond, and 15 soccer fields.
“This complex is one of the finest athletic complexes in the area,” Chafin said in a press release.
Al Barker, who donated to the project, got to throw out the first pitch to start off the summer baseball season.
For more information about the Plainfield Youth Athletic Complex, visit the Town of Plainfield’s website at www.townofplainfield.com.
