There’s a new baseball facility coming to the Lancaster/Depew area, and it’s a name some might recognize. Dawson Field is the name, and while the overgrown grass and rusty backstop might not look like much yet, the Lancaster Baseball Booster Club has big plans for the 93-year-old field and the six-and-a-half surrounding acres.
“We were approached with this opportunity in early April by a Depew resident, Mike Kotz, about the possibility of the booster club at least getting the ball rolling and rehabbing or taking over this field,” explained LBBC chairman Bruce Stutz.
It’s turned into more than that, as the nonprofit LBBC entered into a 10-year lease-to-own agreement. The sale was approved this morning, and work on the field will start as soon as possible. Dawson Field will give Lancaster’s American Legion Baseball team a place to call its own, and the hope is to include other teams in the future as well, from AAABA to CEBA to MUNY to adult recreational teams.
“This is our dream, to bring this field back to the community,” explained LBBC vice chairman Paul Giordano. “It’s been let go for so long, and we think with the support of the community, with some major donors, this could become one of the best fields in Western New York.”
Dawson Field will give the local high schools another option as well, and with the cold wet springs in Buffalo, that’s never a bad thing. The hope is to eventually turn it into a turf field, but that might be a little further in the future. For now, the goal is to have the field game ready by June 1, 2020.
“We have long range plans,” said Stutz. “It could be an all-turf complex, just because of the springs and what we deal with here with baseball. But right now, we’re looking to get it up and rolling and hopefully be ready by June 1 next year.”
Another goal of the LBBC is to add a parking lot beyond the right field fence and a miracle field on the other side of that. Grand Island currently has a miracle field, and Dawson Field’s would be modeled after that. It would be a flat composite field that would allow kids with disabilities to play baseball at the same park. There is currently a playground at Dawson Field, and the hope is that it would be converted into an all-inclusive playground.
As far as the main field goes, the old backstop will come down — something the neighbors are happy about — and a cage will replace it. That will keep more balls inside of the park instead of in neighbors’ yards. The fence will be repaired or replaced where needed, and tubing will be added along the top. There were once lights at Dawson Field — football was even played there — and the plan is to eventually put lights back up as well.
Stutz expressed his appreciation to Depew superintendent Jeff Rabey, along with the village of Depew, for making the whole process run so smoothly so far.
“This is the model for what a lot of communities should do,” Stutz said.
They know there’s a lot of work to be done, but Stutz and Giordano are excited for the end result.
“It’s a long term process, but I think by the end, it will be one of the premier baseball fields in Western New York,” said Giordano.