The St. Joseph High School baseball field at Dickinson Park will look a little different after next season. The St. Joseph City Commission has approved changes to the city’s Master Plan to add fences all down the first and third base lines, move the concession stand/scoring tower forward, and the dugouts toward the field. Public Works director Greg Grothous says it will have gates that lock during the high school baseball season.
“We want to try to limit some of those unexpected uses that may cause a lot of extra work leading up to their game that evening, or a district tournament being hosted and school officials show up and somebody’s been out there with a bike or a moped or a dirt bike, or something of that nature.”
Grothous says that also includes people parking on the field at times. An donor has approached St. Joseph Public Schools to pay for the work, and has offered up to $1 million. Grothous says they do not yet have estimates for the cost or the overall timeframe, but says the backstop fence does need to be moved in as it is currently 60 feet behind home plate. He says most high school fields only have about 30 feet behind the plate.
