CATLETTSBURG, Ky. — The city of Catlettsburg has been approved for a grant to improve its baseball complex near U.S. 23.
“We have Little League that plays here, Senior League, and there are a lot of other different leagues that come up here to play,” Catlettsburg Mayor Faith Day-Pike said. “And this is the home turf of Catlettsburg Little League, which is also the oldest charter in the state of Kentucky. We also have a really good walking track, and it gets utilized by a lot of people.”
Pike said she believed that three laps around the track is roughly a mile.
Pike said she has always thought that more should be done with the ball fields and the playground area. The main reason for this, she said, is that by renovating and improving the complex, it would make it better for the residents of Catlettsburg and those who visit the city. Another reason is that the field is the first thing motorists see when they enter the city, and the last thing they see when they leave.
One aspect of the complex that will benefit greatly from the renovation is the playground area. Currently there is only a swing set, some benches and a slide, but Pike said this was not always the case.
“We had more playground equipment here in the past, but a lot of it had to be removed because it was old and worn out,” she said.
Fixing the equipment was not a good option, the mayor said, because even when repaired the equipment would not have met the changing codes governing playground equipment. But a lot of the grant will be used to remedy this lack.
“We applied for the Land and Water Restoration Grant through FIVCO,” Pike said. “It was specifically for this park, and we were awarded the $50,000 grant. So we are going to resurface, and everything will be ADA compliant, and we are going to have some sensory toys as well. But our main item will be a castle play structure. It will have slides and a lot of other things as well. In addition to this, we are going to have a wheelchair-accessible swing set, a merry-go-round, new teeter-totters, new park benches and new picnic tables which will also be wheelchair-accessible.”
“This is going to be a much-needed addition to Catlettsburg,” ]Pike said. “Everyone is really happy, and really excited about it.”
The grant the city received is what is known as a 50/50 grant, where money donated must be matched by the recipient. But the mayor said there was money in the budget for this, and some other related things the city had planned to accomplish. Included in the grant was money for basketball goals.