The Friends of Rippey continues to make a strong push to complete renovations to a city-owned asset.

Mary Weaver with the Friends of Rippey says for the past couple of years, they have raised funds to improve and renovate the city-owned ball field. She tells Raccoon Valley Radio the field was community built in the 1940s and has been used by then Rippey High School, then East Greene High School, and Greene County High School. The field was recently gifted back to the City. 

Weaver notes last year they received a Greene County Community Foundation grant of over $4,500. She says part of those funds went to rebuilding the dugouts and some bleacher upgrades. Then they received $4,500 from the Greene County Board of Supervisors through a Louis Dreyfus grant to help with widening the “warning track” around the field. Now they have their sights set on applying for another community foundation grant to help pay for a rubber tile to be installed on top of the chain link fence to protect players from injuring their arms catching fly balls. 

Weaver talks about why they are making such a push to complete the ballpark renovations.

“We’re really excited this year because Mid-Iowa Baseball League out of Des Moines is going to have up to ten games using our field this summer. So we’re really pressuring ourselves to get the field back in shape and have it be safe for the players. That first game is going to be May 15th. So we have to get ready quickly.”

Weaver says they have already raised enough funds for the fence project as the match for the community foundation grant, which will be announced later this spring.