New Lights Will be a Priority, Park Board Decides

The Lake Saint Louis Park and Recreation Board where presented with a choice at their May 17 meeting: with $500,000 to spend, would they prefer to replace the lighting at three of the baseball fields at Founders Park or would they prefer to begin the initial phase of a community recreation center in Boulevard Park?

The question was posed by Director of Parks and Recreation Tim Vanatta and Board of Aldermen liason John Pellerito, who had been appointed to the position at the previous board of aldermen meeting.

The current lighting at Founder’s Park — and here's a great bit of trivia for you sports buffs—was salvaged from old Sportsmans Park in St. Louis. Since Sportsmans Park was replaced by Busch Stadium in 1966, the lights are at least 45 years old. Vanatta said that getting 25-30 years out of a system is good.

“It’s a crap shoot how long it will last,” Vanatta said. Parts for the old lighting system are no longer available and technology has "gone ballistic in the last ten years or so," he said.

Vanatta explained what he called "Ball Field Lighting 101" to the board. Basically, there are foot-candle ratings for the infield and the outfield. Those ratings are based on age groups and are related to the speed of the ball. "Every time one of those bulbs goes out, your foot-candle is reduced. We had a whole bank go out," Vanatta said.

"People all over St. Charles want to come here to play," Pellerito said. 

"Without lights, you don't get tournaments," Vanatta added.

Board member Marsha Sverdrup said, "Both (the lights and the community center) seem like good ideas. Both seem like a priority. But how do you say one’s more a priority than the other? Which one can wait another year?"

Another board member, Harold Gaines, said, "I honestly think the rec center is the most important. But you can’t buy a rec center for half a million dollars." 

"If we do one, we do it with the idea of expansion. We probably have enough money for offices, a couple of multipurpose rooms and a kitchen," Vanatta said. "If we choose the lights, there’s no reason not to be talking about a rec center."

Vanatta said that until there were more decisions made about what the recreation/community center would offer, its staffing and operational issues, there was no way to plan for it. "When we decide what  Phase I includes, then we can work out the costs."

General agreement was that the ball fields needed to be a priority because they have  a great potential for producing revenue for the city.

"Both are going to be addressed," Pellerito said. "But we want to target one. This is not something that we can get done next week, but we can start working toward it."