Ascot Park, Ballfield, Electrical

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October 12, 1993 jrm I've been asked to speak on the process and staff actions which lead up to the decision to install lights here at Ascot Ballfield. To do this, I think it may be helpful to review the events which brought us here today. The need for work on the City's ballfield lighting systems was brought to staffs attention when a light fixture fell from a pole at Kincaid Field last winter. As a result of this Maintenance staff contracted with a consultant to analyze of all the ballfield lighting systems. When we received the consultant report in May, the results were basically that the lighting systems could not be repaired due to the large number of the wood poles with rot. They needed to be replaced. A staff team formed to discuss the Consultant's report and make recommendations. Team: Myself, - Maintenance Support Manager Doug Post, - Recreation Division Director Dick Morgan, - Parks Maintenance Manager John Etter, - Parks Planner Louie Kroeck, - PWE - Landscape Architect At this point it may be helpful to talk a little about a couple of the parameters staff feels we are working under. First, one of the Council Goals is to put more emphasis on recreation, especially youth recreation. Allowing the City's inventory of lighted ballfield complexes currently being used to fall from the current four to three doesn't align with this goal. Second, staff felt the authorization to consider lighting Ascot was already in place in the Council adopted Parks and Recreation Plan (P &R Plan). The P &R Plan designates Ascot Park as a Community Park. In the hierarchy of the park system this means that it is a park of community -wide significance, intedned to be used by people from throughout the city. This is in comparison to much smaller neighborhood parks expected to be used primarily by those living in its immediate vicinity. The P &R Plan describes lighting of sports fields as one of the appropriate amenities for our Community Parks under the section "Facilities and Features ". It was at the June task team meeting we first seriously discussed the advantages of lighting Ascot field instead of replacing the lights at Kincaid. Some money was available from the capital budget for lighting rehabilitation but we didn't know if the amount would be sufficient. Our conclusion was that we lacked sufficient information on what these projects might cost to make a recommendation at that time. Instead, we asked Engineering staff to design the lighting systems and prepare cost estimates.