Reviving Corinth Ballpark: A Community Effort

So, they got themselves a ballpark. Have you ever wondered what it actually takes to make a ballpark playable? Or even safe?

Those overgrown fields and dilipidated buildings, and fences and PARKING LOTS – well, suffice it to say – they take a lot of work to renovate.

And as usual, while everyone wants a nice ballpark to play at, few are actually willing to take on the challenge. As with any renovations, its very expensive. And keep in mind, flipping a ballpark to utilize doesn’t bring in the income that flipping a house does.

But The Pace’s, they decided it was worth it. (yep, they’re crazy)The vision was restoring the park and making it a home for the new West Georgia Beasts ORGANIZATION. Not only would one all star team get a place to call home, but a bunch of boys (and girls) would have a place to play travel ball, within an organization that is known for putting the KIDS FIRST! The vision was to make it affordable for all the kids who want to play, in their own community, competitive, and filled with people who love coaching up kids and watching them play.

But first…the field. The buildings were trashed. The fields a mess, plumbing and electrical not working and/or out of date. Grunt work commenced and suddenly there were dozens of people helping with the project. On any given day, you could find Dennis Pace at the field with a handfull of faithful volunteers doing the very difficult grunt work needed to make Corinth playable again. The entire family spent countless hours at the park putting in hard labor to see this dream through. It wasnt just a clean-up job – but a complete revival.

There were licenses and permits to get. The electrical and plumbing had to be compeltely redone. The buildings needed to be brought up to code in order to open. Every good ballpark needs lights and bathrooms, and concession stands. Batting cages. There were days that the calls came from Facebook asking for people to come help pick up rocks on those fields. There would be dirt needed. And people in the community showed up.

Meanwhile, the idea of reopening was getting expensive. Not only was it taxing on the time of the families involved – but none of the renovations were free. Melanie started getting sponsors, planning fundraisers – working on getting all the ‘ducks’ in a row so it would be a viable park. Many people donated what they could, while the labor was handled by friends and family of Corinth Ballpark Revived. Definitely a labor of love from every single person that gave their time.

As progress was made, fundraising camps and events were being organized, and the community SHOWED UP!

There was still a lot of work to be done, and A LOT OF CHECKS to be written. All for the love of the game and for the love of the kids that play it…

Interested in donating to Corinth Ballpark? You can venmo a donation to @corintballpark

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