Going full-on TURF at Volcanoes Stadium
The two-million dollar project will provide options for baseball, softball and more
Once the last games of Mavericks League baseball for this season are completed, Volcanoes Stadium in Keizer will transform into a construction project aimed at making the facility open for not only baseball, but softball, lacrosse, soccer, and a whole lot more. The Volcanoes organization announced the field turf conversion project this week—after receiving approval for the Community Sports Development Alliance.
The Alliance will fund 70 percent of the 2.2 million dollar plan—with the rest financed through Volcanoes baseball’s private funding efforts.
Volcanoes spokesman Mickey Walker, CEO of the Mavericks Independent Baseball League, says the timing is right for making the 23-year old stadium open to more sports opportunities—citing everything from the team reductions in minor league baseball to the COVID pandemic—as reasons for adjusting the facility’s use to include more options.
“The biggest goal of this project to make the field available for all sorts of events,” says Walker.
“We want to make the stadium a hub for year-round-usage.”
Project plans—which are weather dependent—call for construction to begin in mid-October with removal of the original baseball grass and the laying of the gravel base, followed by placement of the artificial turf over the entirety of the stadium’s surface. If all goes according to projections, the field should be ready by late December.
Walker says the contractors installing the turf say Volcanoes Stadium has by far the best drainage of any site they have dealt with—thanks to its use as a pro baseball site.
“It will be easier to convert due to the drainage,” says Walker.
“We should have it ready to go for use by Corban’s baseball team in January.”
Corban University’s baseball team has used the stadium for its home games since 2017.
Volcanoes representatives have already had conversations with local school officials and coaches about providing them with a place to play when rains make their own fields unplayable, a problem they faced this past season in April. This project, says Walker, gives teams a “to-go place” for those wet game nights.
Walker says the plans involving the conversion efforts—still call for the OSAA to continue to host the State baseball playoffs at the facility into the future.
But baseball isn’t the only sport that will be played at Volcanoes Stadium in the months that follow.
Walker says the field comes with many options to allow for numerous configurations.
The artificial mound can be raised, lowered, or removed all together, and pegs for bases can be adjusted so that all age levels of baseball and softball can be played on site. The Volcanoes ground crew can also provide temporary painted lines for those contests.
The field could also be used for everything from lacrosse and soccer, to football.
“It is our goal to be able to offer a field for youth sports of all sorts,” says Walker.
The Volcanoes organization is looking to sell some prime locations on the new field turf for advertising purposes into the immediate future. There are five slots available on the baseball field layout—both on-deck circles, two locations in front of the team dugouts, and one spot just behind home plate. Walker says potential advertisers are being urged to make contact soon, to provide time for to produce the turf for the ads.
Come the start of the new year, Volcanoes Stadium is going to look like a very different place—but in a decidedly positive way.