lagrange

		Fields galore for LaGrange

				KATS wishes to thank The Chronicle-Telegram and Jeff Mohrman for the use of this illustration and article as it appeared in The Chronicle-Telegram. LaGrange and Community Headlines YMCA looking at expanding services in southern Lorain County community. Click here for complete details. Lorain County Y, residents unite on building drive. ( article by Molly Kavanaugh -The Cleveland Plain Dealer. Click here for complete details.
		Jeff Mohrman The Chronicle - Telegram
		An umpire yelling "Play ball" next spring at the LaGrange Township Village Park is a likelihood now that the park's master plan is complete, park supporters say. The plan calls for nine baseball diamonds to eventually be installed; five with foul lines measuring 210 feet from home plate to the fence, two, with 280 foot lines and two more with 325 foot lines. The park also will feature seven soccer fields, a football field and two practice football fields for youth football games; a nature trail through the woods in the park's southwestern corner; and a path circling thepark. A community center, possibly with multiple indoor courts for basket-ball, volleyball and other sports and areas for senior citizens activities, is also a part of the park plan. "It adds a lot. It adds a whole new dimension to the park," said Guy Page, chairman of the LaGrange Community Park & Recreation Board. "You have everything complete. It's not just a sports park. It's going to be built for the community." Keystone Athletic Team Supporters, an athletic booster group for Keystone Schools, is looking to build the center. Page said the ideas for the master plan came from an April meeting where township and village residents voted on what the 88-acre park should include. "They prioritized what items in the park would be built first," he said. The park will be built over several years, but the first phase is building the baseball diamonds and soccer fields, Page said. Engineering work is already under way for a road from state Route 303 south into the park. Some of the baseball diamonds and all of the soccer fields are expected to be ready for play next spring. The park is on the village's west side. "I hope step one starts this fall," said LaGrange Mayor Kim Strauss. "We would hope this fall to be putting in a road and utilities." Strauss and the park committee would be seeking whatever grants they can find. They already have applied for a state grant that could bring up to $125,000 for the park. Village and township officials agreed last year to buy the land from former mayor Donna Stewart and her husband, Robert, for about $7,000 an acre over a maximum of 15 years. Strauss said leaving the southwest corner of the park a natural area, far away from the fields, was planned. "The ideas was to keep these separate, so that people in the passive(natural) area won't hear the screaming and yelling from the ball diamonds," he said. The plan is now on display in the LaGrange Municipal Building.