So the baseball program hopes to build a new indoor batting and pitching facility next to the Carleton Davidson Stadium.
“It will helps us so we can practice earlier and we don’t have to have the real late time slots,” Coach Jay Lewis said. “It will be better for our student athletes.”
Lewis is holding a fundraising drive to pay for the 4,000-square-foot building, which will be owned by National Trail Parks and Recreation District. He declined to say what it could cost.
The building will have three tunnels that can be used for batting or pitching. It will be on the site of the current batting cage at the stadium, which National Trail owns and rents to Wittenberg for its home games.
The district board gave preliminary approval to the plans on Monday, Feb. 8, pending approval of final construction drawings and a use agreement between NTPRD and Wittenberg.
National Trail’s main concern was that the building complement the stadium’s design, CEO Tim Smith said.
“You have a multimillion dollar investment in a new stadium so you don’t want to throw up any old building next to it you,” Smith said. “You want to make it look attractive and like it belongs there.”
The project should be a good collaboration, Smith said.
Lewis hopes the building could be ready this fall.
Having the facility also would free up more time for other athletes and students at the HPER Center, Lewis said.
In addition to winter training space for the baseball team, he said it could be used during cool weather games for warm-ups, or by other community or high school teams.
“There really is no other facility like this unless you drive down to Fairborn or Dayton,” he said.
Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0363 or ssommer@coxohio.com.
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