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Fields at the Beaumont Sports Park show signs of their wear and tear.
A mound left behind by gopher activity at the Beaumont Sports Park in May 2022.
A mound left behind by gopher activity at the Beaumont Sports Park in May 2022.
When it comes to the storied Beaumont Sports Park, there have been many triumphs, and lots of losses.
For instance, players have lost shoes (in mud).
The Beaumont Sports Park is sparsely lighted, crowded, uneven and unsafe: users express concerns that, especially if they’re adults, they’ve played one season there in their sport of choice, and never returned, wary that continuing to play at the park could cost them too much recovery time off from their jobs.
The deteriorating fields have resulted in sore limbs, limps and lots of falls and countless trips to doctors’ offices, thanks primarily to the burrowing antics of gophers and ground squirrels.
To the dismay of those volunteers tasked with painting field boundary lines, their efforts disappear when at least 30 to 40 cubic feet of dirt is brought in on a weekly basis by the city to spread around fields in order to fill in rodent holes, and in attempts to level the playing field, so to speak.
“We don’t need to call these gophers ‘little fellas,’” Mayor Lloyd White admonished Community Services Director Doug Story, who playfully explained the park’s conditions during the Sept. 20 Beaumont city council meeting.
City staff presented a few options for the 655,000 square feet, or 15 acres, of playable space that encompasses 328,930 square feet of soccer fields, 179,140 square feet of football fields, and 147,165 square feet of baseball fields that currently run the city $66,220 in water usage alone each year.
The most expensive option presented to the council was $8.8 million to replace 422,000 square feet of football and soccer fields with synthetic turf, which would reduce water usage by 18 million gallons annually and save the city $41,000 in water costs.
Staff also was offered a recommendation to replace 362,142 square feet of grass turf with synthetic turf, after reducing the amount of usable surface by 72,250 square feet, which would also save 18 million gallons of water a year; and calls for reducing play surfaces with decomposed granite, which would cost $8,074,205.
A third option was replacing 485,450 square feet of grass turf with new natural turf that would keep the same amount of usable playing surface, but reduce water usage annually by 6.5 million gallons for an annual savings of $18,000; the cost for that option is $1,950,000.
A fourth option was to use natural turf sod while reducing the amount of playable surface space by 72,250 square feet and replacing existing “deficiencies” with turf and decomposed granite for a cost of $2,401,945, which would also save 6.5 million gallons of water annually.
Resident Robert Marquez came to the council meeting with three of his children, who he also coaches, and told his elected officials, “I share the sentiments of a lot of people: the park is deplorable. It has holes, it has ruts.” He explained that he personally has twisted his ankle while being active on the field. An assistant coach that works with him broke her foot last year.
Fields at the Beaumont Sports Park show signs of their wear and tear.
DeAnn Dobbins, who runs the Beaumont nonprofit DeAnn’s PAASS Kids with her husband Michael, pleaded with the council to improve the safety of the fields on behalf of their organization’s more than 60 special needs individuals and accompanying volunteers who participate in weekly sports programs at the park.
Ana Olvera advocated options based on the activities of 60 flag football players, 84 cheerleaders and 224 football players, telling the council that carving away field space just to conserve water usage was not an option, since athletes already have to spread out to other areas of the field in order to find practice space, and lighting isn’t available in many areas.
Dave Jaggers, general manager of the Beaumont-Cherry Valley Water District weighed in to encourage the city to take into consideration water reduction mandates from the state; former city councilman David Castaldo (who has announced that he is again running for city council), advocated going the extra mile to pay for artificial turf.
The city originally had approved halting all activities on the field from the end of May until the beginning of August in order to rehabilitate the field, but “there were significant watering restrictions passed down from the state asking municipalities to reduce water usage in our parks,” including sports parks, Story said, creating a challenge in the city’s consideration of seeding new grass.
Fall sports programs were allowed to go ahead at the fields, as the city mulls its options.
No athletic programs consistently pay for the upkeep of the fields, according to Doug Story, who reported that Beaumont is one of the few cities in the region that does not charge sports programs for use of its parks as a means to help pay for their maintenance.
AYSO and football programs point out that they have paid for use of lights, and AYSO said that it has invested over $30,000 over the years to help pay for re-pitching and re-sodding areas around the goal areas.
The council will likely get another update after the city’s October budget workshop and further discussion with the city’s consultant Riverside-based RHA Landscape Architects-Planners, Inc.
Staff Writer David James Heiss may be reached at dheiss@recordgazette.net.
Staff Writer David James Heiss may be reached at dheiss@recordgazette.net , or by calling (951) 849-4586 x114.
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As Beaumont’s city council meeting inched toward 11 p.m. Tuesday night, Community Services Director Doug Story attempted to liven up discussion after a lengthy housing element discussion.
When it comes to the storied Beaumont Sports Park, there have been many triumphs, and lots of losses.
“Whiskey is for drinkin’, and water is for fightin’,” an adage that San Gorgonio Pass Water Agency board Vice President Mickey Valdivia used to kick off the PassEDA’s Sept. 15 water discussion hosted at Noble Creek Community Center in Beaumont.
The Boys & Girls Clubs of the San Gorgonio Pass (BGCSGP) has been awarded a few grants in recent weeks, from the Inland Empire Community Foundation, Bank of America and the Panda Cares Foundation.
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On Tuesday, Aug. 30, a student was arrested for setting off fireworks at Banning High School.
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