The proposed soccer and baseball fields are shown overlaying an aerial photo of the site. Airport hangars are visible near the top of the image.
The town of Twisp is preparing to seek bids for construction of a new sports complex that will replace scrappy playing fields south of the Twisp Municipal Airport.
Town Council members were presented with plans for the sports complex by landscape architect Robert Droll last week for the $500,000 project, which will build a new baseball diamond and soccer field on the town property on Twisp Airport Road.
Funding for the project comes from a state Recreation and Conservation Office grant of $450,000, with a $50,000 match from the town.
The baseball diamond will comply with Pony League regulations, and the soccer field will meet high school regulations, said Droll, who specializes in designing community parks and athletic facilities.
Droll said his design retains a walking path around the area containing the new soccer and baseball fields. “I always notice people walking on the track. We want to maintain that,” he said.
The area for the new fields will be graded to provide level playing surfaces and drainage, and irrigation will be installed. The baseball field will include dugouts, backstops, fencing, bleachers, bases and a spectator court, Droll said. The infield surface will be completed with of a special mix of clay and sand from Spokane, he said. Plans include ADA parking near the fields and an ADA pathway between them.
Droll said $500,000 for the sports complex is a tight budget, and volunteer labor could help trim some expenses. Community volunteers could be tapped to help build some of the baseball field infrastructure, like bleachers or a dugout canopy, Droll said.
Andrew Denham, Twisp public works director, said the town is hoping to be ready to seek bids by the last week of March, and construction could start as early as June.
The fields should be seeded by August to allow at least six weeks of growth before cold weather sets in, Droll said. He advised town officials not to allow the fields to be used during the following year so that the grass on the fields can become completely established, although he acknowledged that the community will be impatient to use the new fields.
The town can only afford to build two fields with its current funding, but Droll included drawings for a potential future sports complex that would add another soccer field and another baseball diamond along with a tennis court, half basketball court, concessions and restrooms, playground and picnic areas, and parking.
