Upgrades coming to Lacasse Park baseball diamond

Tecumseh town council approved $3 million in upgrades to the Lacasse Park baseball diamond.

“They're super excited that this project is going through especially on budget during these times so pretty excited it's about to happen,” said Jamie Kell, president of the Tecumseh Baseball Club, which is pitching in $100,000.

St. Clair College is also a partner in the two-phase project which is a final hoorah for Paul Anthony, director of Parks and Recreation. He is retiring at the end of the month.

“You will have a new grandstand and a new look to the park with the same old feeling,” Anthony said.

The wooden grandstands are 25 years old and showing their age.

“We've kept it together. Kept it safe for the last couple of years,” said Anthony.

A structural study was done in 2017 showing the grandstand was past its expiry date.

“Infrastructure is good for so long and it needs replacing or upgrading,” he said.

Built in 1943, the ball diamond is getting both. Phase one will see the demolition and construction of a new grandstand and backstop.

“It'll have the brick wall with the netting up instead of the meshing that is here now,” Anthony said.

The grandstand will be fully accessible and have a mix of seating, benches and standing room. Below the grandstand will be a new home dressing room steps away from the bench, a physio room and more.

“Kind of a meeting room/training room, not too big. An area where you can stretch and do a little bit of hitting,” said Kell.

Phase two will require government funding and include turf field and upgrades to the dugouts, all in time to host the 2024 Baseball Canada senior men's national championships.

“Teams are gonna come here and stay at the hotels, eat at the restaurants and come visit the amenities and the shops in the town so it's a huge win for the town as well,” he said.

Demolition is expected to get underway in January with the backstop up in the springs to minimize disruption to the baseball season.