PORT TOWNSEND — About $40,000 worth of volunteer work and donations have gone into improving popular Jefferson County Memorial Field this year to keep it alive and well, a county official said.
“The grass and buildings are in better shape than they’ve been in several years, in my opinion,” said Matt Tyler, who has been county parks and recreation manager for about 3 ½ years and worked forthe county since 2004.
Memorial Field, one of 19 Jefferson County parks, was threatened with closure last year after the three county commissioners were faced with cutting non-essential services such as parks.
That’s when an Adopt-A-Park program was launched to build up a volunteer force to keep as many parks open as possible.
Bleachers painted
Most recently Saturday, professional painter Dusty Massie and a crew of about 30 volunteers added two coats of paint to the bleachers that seat about 250, leaving them with a glossy green coat.
Massie also started painting the locker and rest rooms under the bleachers, plus the Washington Street entrance breezeway, a job he expected to finish Tuesday after his regular work day.
“I wish I could do more,” Massie said Tuesday, who figured the expenses and work done Saturday — preparation, paint and labor — would have cost the county $6,000.
Massie, who has a son playing Peewee football at the field, said he has spent six weekends working on the field, including Father’s Day and he estimates it has amounted to more than 80 volunteer hours.
The volunteers Saturday ranged in age from high school students to 81 years old, he said. All have a stake in, or a special fondness, for the field.
Massie said volunteers ate well on Saturday with food and drink donations from Jordini’s Sub Sandwiches, El Sarape Mexican Restaurant, Waterfront Pizza, QFC and the Food Co-op in Port Townsend.
Port Townsend School District, which entered into an agreement with Jefferson County, has brought the play field’s turf up to its former emerald green quality, Tyler said, by aerating, sanding and reseeding it.
“The Port Townsend School District did a ton of work on the field itself,” Tyler said.
Day-to-day maintenance of the field has been donated by Rich Stapf Construction, which has agreed with the county to perform about $25,000 worth of volunteer work on the field, involving general maintenance and custodial cleanup.
Athletes from both Port Townsend and Chimacum high schools who use the field have pitched in on maintenance this year as well.
Tyler said the school districts are now on summer break, but they left the field ready for fall sports.
Other events that commonly use the field include car shows.
Car show organizers
Members of the Rakers Car Club, which will host a car show at the field Saturday, volunteered for Saturday detail.
The Kiwanis Classic Car Show is scheduled Aug. 21 at the field.
A county summer camp for soccer youths was under way on the field Tuesday morning.
Memorial Field has been used by the Port Townsend Boys Soccer Team, the Port Townsend Junior League Baseball team, and a series of community events, such as the Medieval Festival and the Rhody Carnival in May.
Such Adopt-A-Park programs as that at Memorial Field have been filled with volunteers since county leaders last year announced major cutbacks in parks and recreation facilities.
The county late last year cited more than a $100,000 revenue shortfall, and proposed closing four parks and laying off three part-time staff positions.
The move left just one paid staffer for parks maintenance countywide.
That led to a call for more volunteers to maintain most of the county’s 19 parks.
The county park system that serves 2,200 families with 700 children budgeted $539,546 in 2009 expenditures but has only slightly more than $438,000 for 2010. That’s a reduction of 19 percent.
To make budget, the parks and recreation department cut its part-time staff, laying off 2.64 full-time equivalent position, leaving the department with a staff of 5.28 full-time equivalencies in 2010.
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.