CLEAN UP TIME!!!

The "old land fill" in down town Kuna has been removed and regraded. This unsightly mess had been a landmark in the City Center for many years, and is now residing at a more appropriate location east of town. The improvements and grading were part of a clean up initiative by the Kuna Baseball Park Redevelopment Committee, and performed by Dustin Ferdinand of Ridge Line Construction with material donated by Quality Sand and Gravel.

Much of the clean up was in preparation of the planned grade work to be performed between Second Street and the baseball fields. The relocation of the old storage shed used by the baseball association in Kuna, will offer added convenience to the facility and allow easier access for coaches and kids involved in any field preparation.

Clean up will continue with some weed mowing and straightening of the Grange Hall fence line. Complimented by the addition of an entry ramp plus gravel along the new pathway to the shed, this should complete the project in time for spring rain and mud next year.

Thank you Ridge Line Construction!! ......... Thank you Quality Sand and Gravel!!

HOME DEPOT

"The Community Building Store"

The KBPRC would like to thank the Home Depot for their help in this project. At the Home Depot, they believe in more than being just another building in the community. They believe in building the community!

Improvements to be included in the concession building.

Following the site plan and layout of the concession building, we are having to make some adjustments to the original planned facility. When we planned out the concession building with storage and large concession area, we had planned on a division of 100' separating the 200' fields. This 100' would have been plenty to handle the requirements and design of the new park. We had been approved for the 100' by the City Council, and we felt comfortable knowing everything would fit nicely in this area.

Things have changed, and the concession draft shown earlier was actually the second design drawn with some good ideas in mind. However, having changed the new fields to a dimension of 225' has reduced our avenue between the two fields by fifty feet. This has created some new problems, and wanting to have as much room between the concession wall and the backstops, we have been forced to go back to the drawing board for yet another new design. At this point, I would like to thank Glenn Walker of Architecture Designs Plus, and all of the people who are involved in the design and changes being made to this facility. Thank you for your patience as we try to accommodate all of the organizations planning to use the ballpark complex.

In the new building design idea, we are now planning to omit the storage part of the facility. At the same time, we will be incorporating more concession room and food item storage, plus keeping the same ADA compliant restrooms. Score keeper shops (accessible only by stairs) will be installed at the top of the structure. This small second story will have omnidirectional microphones to pick up the sound from the umpires. A closed circuit phone from the dugouts will transmit information from the coaches to the score keepers. The only drawback, is the loss of the ADA accessibility to the shops. We simply have no other choice with the loss of the fifty feet in the avenue. Trying to build the structure within the fifty foot limit has put it in the right of way of Second Street, so it is back to the drawing board!

The unit storage will now be replaced with a completely separate structure located toward the west end of the facility. Details have not been finalized on this yet , but it appears this will be a far superior storage than the one originally planned.

Although the addition of a second story media type center will look good and add a touch of class to the facility, I personally liked the ADA compliant service offered by the old score keep shops. (Times are changing before we can even get them on the ground). There are pluses though. We will have more storage space in the concessions for sale items, and the ADA bathroom layout will not be affected. The additional space acquired by the separate storage building, will outweigh any inconvenience as the new building will incorporate storage means that is not a by-product of "convenient" space in the building.

At present, we are working on the code requirements for the restrooms and the concession area. These requirements are being reviewed and considered by several PUC entities. From power supply to sewer disposal, including shared trenching by water supply, gas, even cable TV. As you can see, we are working on many different angles in preparation of this building.

We would like to thank all of the people at Idaho Power who have helped with this part of the project, including Blake Watson, Eileen Vanderpoole, and Dave Stephens. Your support is very appreciated.

Also a big thanks to ACHD for their support and help in the logistics of organizing our efforts. Chanon Romo, Midge Kline, Tina Louie, Michelle White, Larry Zurek, Josh Sak, and Chance Heron. Your patience, time, and support, along with your professionalism, have been a great example of organized administration. Fantastic to work with!

Mike Reno and Bob Jue of Central District Health have played a part in the working of this facility, and we would like to thank them for their time.

Glenn Walker from Architecture Designs Plus, for coming up with idea after idea has been extremely helpful.

Of course the Civil Engineer has been involved in this, and we thank him for his help and support. Jim Coslett of Rock Solid Civil LLC. has been at every step of the way on this facility and has managed to keep this on track with an added (and much needed) sense of humor to it as well. Jim is a good guy, and we are glad to have him on board!

GOT VOLUNTEERS?

You want to know what extreme volunteers are? Just look around Kuna for the Hoseley family. Skip and Jesse Hoseley. I can't say enough about their efforts on this project.

Andrew Close, along with people like Garret Pig Farmer. They make anyone feel like they need to do more! Wil Douglas, he shows up everyday and works hard and grumpy to do whatever needs to be done. No kidding , these people show up every day and work from sun up to sun down. They bring equipment and knowledge to the job, plus they even pay their own way! UNBELIEVABLE -- Kuna owes these guys, they are Citizens of the Year!!

There is one set of people that rarely gets thanked for what they do-- that is the family of every volunteer. When volunteers are out working on projects, and their family is at home missing them, you can bet there is some strain from time to time. So we would like to thank all of the families who endure alongside of the volunteers in this community. Thank you, for your support!!

Sincerely,

The KBPRC

       

GET READY TO RUMMMBLLLE!!!!!

BEFORE

 

 AFTER

Wow!

What happened to all of those dirt piles? 

 Re-grading on the New Kuna Baseball Fields finally got up and rolling with some great determination from the volunteers involved in this endeavor! Trucks, backhoes, skid steers, and tractors could be heard rumbling through the park at all hours of the day and into the evening as hundreds of yards of dirt was transferred out of the park or into designated areas in the facility.

 After hiding behind an enormous steaming pile of dirt, the ADA project was "unearthed" after a six week delay. With the organic matter cooking in this particular pile, as soon as it was exposed to the air, it burst into flames!  Now that is some powerful good dirt! With the ADA ramp now ready for grading and paving, things will be moving again on that part of the project very soon. 

 The grading of the park is one that is being pursued in a fashion that will guarantee proper drainage, and also control the erosion that plagued the facility in the past. This procedure is being handled by some very dedicated people who are taking every precaution to insure it's success. We can't thank them enough for their support. You can find them there at the park, sometimes at seven o'clock in the morning and well into the evenings. The most amazing part? They have nothing to do with baseball or softball, just an awesome community giving spirit! 

 At the present time, we are concentrating on the infields and hope to have the settling and compaction completed by the Kuna Days celebration in August. The infields will be off limits to foot traffic during Kuna Days, but we are getting the outfields ready for the Kids Carnival and the fireworks display by Lloyd Stubbs. If this year is anything like last year's fireworks display, you better plan on being here for it! Great show ... well worth the trip to Kuna! 

 Following Kuna Days, we will begin some grading in the outfields to address the drainage limits and fill in the "valleys" that have created a poor playing surface. 

 This week, look for the construction of the "Avenue" between the two fields. This is going to create more dirt and more rummblllle!! We will be adding irrigation and some supply lines, plus relocating the water main in the park. 

 We have some new surprises in store with the park that promise to benefit Kuna for years to come! Look for more on that soon.

 I would like to thank everyone who emailed with suggestions for the concession building and the dugouts! Those are some cool ideas! Thank you very much! In response to this, the concession building is being changed a little (okay, a lot) and we will have the new plan here in a few weeks.

 Please look for the scaled site plan to be on display at the park real soon. We are hoping to have it in place by Kuna Days. If you are at Kuna Days, please stop by our booth in the vendor area and ask any questions or give us some more ideas! 

 Thank You!!