Thurmon Field Renovation Project

NVLL alum CC Sabathia, and his PitCCh In Foundation teamed up with the Bay Area's own Good Tidings Foundation to completely renovate Thurmon Field. This has been the primary playing field since the inception of our league and was in need of a major renovation.

The entire project took over 2 months and was completed on time.

Click here to view photos of the project »

Renovation Blog

12-02-09

Ground has officially been broken! With clear blue skies above, the tractors began moving at 9:00am on Monday. The game plan for this phase is to clear and grade the field leaving a solid flat dirt surface. The Site Superintendent is great and he reports no initial problems or concerns.

On Wednesday, NVLL Alums, Jason Berhel (NVLL 90-96'), Jason Wells (NVLL 91-97'), Stephen Eriksen (NVLL 81-86') were joined by League President Tony Hodges and cleared out the old snack shack and business offices. The existing building will be modified and furnished with new equipment and accessories.

There have been a lot of great memories at this site. In and around recycling materials and doing some small demolition, the crew shared stories of the past and some of the wonderful memories of little league baseball. We can all remember when this was the focal point of growing up in North Vallejo and we are very excited to know that those days will be back soon.

12-10-09

What a difference a week makes! With a very aggressive first week on the field, the project is going great! All old dirt from the outfield has been removed. The surface is level and the baseball diamond footprint is very clean. The crew has removed a majority of the old chain-link fence from both the backstop and the outfield. With the field primed, this week calls for installation of new sprinkler lines and utility outlets.

Volunteers removed all items from the old scorers/storage room. At 11:07am on Monday, Manuel made a final inspection of the 2 story building. At 11:10am he made the first hit into the top right corner and by 11:16am, the entire structure was demolished! (Check out the smile as he recieves a round of applause from the NVLL crew).

Click here to see a video of the start of the demolition »
Click here to see a video of the end of the demolition »

The weather has been very cold here in Vallejo, but the spirit of baseball is alive and well. Many people are stopping by to visit the site and see what is going on. Several local trades people have commented on the vast changes and the initial response has been very positive. The excitement is building!

12-18-09

Week three has brought a lot of rain to the north bay. Luckily, the storm systems have not caused many problems at the work site. Manuel and his crew are focusing on the instalation of the new sprinkler system. Hundreds of feet of tubing have been placed around the field.

The two sets of bleachers have been moved off of the original platform. They have been lined up adjacent to the work site and crews will now fix, repair, and re-paint each unit. It takes 6-8 men to move each piece which weighs upwards of 500 pounds.

With the old scorers booth / supply room and fencing removed, the ball park is a shell of it's former self. For those of us who grew up playing here, we appreciate the fact that the renovation keeps some of the "old charm" of the ball park while bringing much needed improvements. Discussions have started on creating and exacuting a maintenance plan to ensure all of this hard work and effort is enjoyed by all for many years to come.

12-28-09

The renovation continues to move along very well with this entire project really taking shape. The new sprinkler system has been installed. A majority of the construction debris has been removed and the bleacher repair project is going smoothly. Many local groups such as GVRD, PG&E and the City of Vallejo are stopping by to visit the work site.

Besides the backs of the dugouts, the only remaining "original" building is the snack shack and NVLL day of game operations offices. The building has been completely cleared out and a fresh coat of paint has been applied. The interior aspect of this project will begin in the coming weeks.

With a tremendous amount of effort placed on "leveling the field" you can now see all the dynamics that go into creating a safe, efficient and quality playing field. The new field "footprint" has not moved, but everything around it will be new. Fresh infield dirt and grass will be enclosed with new chain-link fence and cement barriers.

1-08-10

With a brief break for the holidays, the crews are back on the project and things are again in full swing. The new fencelines are being put in place along with new kick boards. Several large equipment deliveries are arriving daily. There is a nice "groove" going on here at the park with several different trades working together to get the job done .

At around 10:00am on Tuesday, a large semi-truck pulled up on the street adjacent to the field. The driver pulled back the tarp and unveiled several large rolls of natural grass. It was quite a site to see an entire baseball field's worth of grass all on one flat bed. The truck pulled around to the service street and unloaded what will soon be our new playing surface.

Next week, they will lay the new turf. The weather reports for the next few weeks in Vallejo call for a lot of rain. Larry Harper from the Good Tidings Foundation is making a plan to continue things moving forward regardless of the weather. Manuel and his team continue to do a tremendous job on the entire project - he has definately earned his "orange and black" NVLL stripes!

1-15-10

The rain has arrived but the crew keeps moving ahead! The field is prepped by first placing material on the dirt to prevent weeds. The team then starts with laying the infield grass by hand. This is a truly amazing process and the attention to detail is noticeable. The large rolls of turf are unrolled then cut to size - just laying carpet. Manuel over-sees every aspect of this and measurements must be precise.

The crews pay special attention to the new side areas where cement borders the field. The infield is the same in over-all dimensions, but the new layout will be exact to Little League standards. The transformation from dirt to grass infield takes about 8 hours. The exterior first, then the interior and around the pitching mound.

For those who thought baseball in North Vallejo was dead - the new grass being laid is proof that "we are back" and better than ever! Although there was much rain during this portion of the project, the sun seemed to shine just as much. We are all so excited about what is taking place at our field and the next few weeks should be very exciting.

1-28-10

Finally - the rain has stopped and today marked an epic showing of commitment to the project. Larry Harper and his crew arrived early to address many areas that were delayed due to the weather. With the field and infield dirt settling well, focus turned to the installation of the new scoreboard, applying the outfield signage, installing the new orange fence caps, and setting up equipment in the new snack shack.

The dedication of the workers is tremendous. After several failed attempts to safely bring in the crane needed to install the new scoreboard, Manuel litterally built a new gravel road way over the right field fence so that the 4 ton truck would not sink into the ground. Without this maneuver, we would have had to wait until April to install what now will be a focal part of the new field. The grass and area was protected and will be returned to it's original state shortly.

The field is surrounded with many improvements and NVLL 2010 will be a fantastic season for all involved. The next few weeks, the field will undergo a battery of tests to ensure we are ready for NVLL 2010.