Royston Ball Fields Expected to be Ready for Summer Play

Renovations are moving along well on the Royston baseball fields and plans are to have them open for the summer baseball and softball season.

In 2011, the Franklin County Little League donated their ball fields to Royston on the condition the city renovate them and make them useable again.

The field, located near the old Boaz Textile manufacturing plant off Highway 17, had not been used in years and was in a complete state of disrepair at the time the city took them over.

So far, however, the city has released some $30,000 in SPLOST funding to help with the renovation.

This week Royston Police Chief Donnie Boleman said after two years of fundraising and hard work, the ball fields are taking shape.

“The progress is really good so far,” Boleman said. “We’re still waiting on some grants that we applied for, but things are looking promising. Our construction time has been postponed by the recent weather, but so far we’re still on time. Hopefully, we’ll be getting to some of the landscaping and grading work this week, weather permitting.”

Earlier estimates to renovate the ball fields and get them ready for use was about $54,000.  In addition to the SPLOST and grant funding, the city has also received donations to help get the park up and running.

One of the biggest projects at the ball fields is the renovation of the concession stand and the dugouts.

“The remodeling of the concession stand is just about 95% complete,” he said. “We’ve just got some touch up painting to do. The bathrooms have been upgraded and are now handicapped accessible. As far as the dugouts, they’ve all been remodeled with the help of volunteer labor and a lot of time. So, we’re excited to be able to use the fields once again.”

Boleman said teams are already lining up to be able play on the newly renovated fields.  He said they expect the fields to be ready by this summer.