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Work continues on Liberty Park Stadium renovation

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Liberty Park Stadium is filled with workers as a $2.6 million renovation is in full swing.

“This week and next week are going to be two weeks with lots of movement,” Sedalia Parks and Recreation Director Amy Epple said. “Things you can see driving by, but once they get it completed it's items you won't see; the drainage, you need to have good drainage with turf, so it's all the drainage from the field and then all the way to the parking lot.”

Extensive dirt work and running of drain lines by C&E Excavation along West Third Street must be completed before the new parking lot can be graded and poured.

“We need to make sure that the drainage is done so they're really getting those all installed,” Epple said. “We're getting a brand-new roof with gutters replaced and everything.”

Seating for 1,000 has been removed due to age and new bleachers are soon due for installation. Crews were on the roof scraping old shingles and prepared for their replacement.

Site Superintendent Bill Myers with Professional Contractors and Engineers told the Democrat he has been on the site around two months, working with his mostly local sub-contractors.

“This is a local contractor, Dickinson Roofing, C&E Excavating is doing our storm and sewers,” Myers said. “Getting the turf in, they're working on the drainage system for the new turf field.”

Proper drainage is essential to prevent ‘ponding’ Myers said and special care is also required inside the historic structure to give it the attention it deserves.

“It’s really kind of neat,” Myers said. “There's been a lot of big-name players that's had a start here before they went pro. We’re trying to preserve as much as we can.”

Epple is dedicated to the stadium’s proper restoration and hopes to keep the facility a home for local baseball teams to play.

“It is definitely a jewel of Sedalia,” Epple said. “For baseball lovers all over it's a special place.”

Turf is due to be installed last and should arrive late November or early December.

“Inside they're working on the restrooms and getting them right,” Epple said. “There's a lot of things happening all over the stadium, it's exciting and it's great to see where it's going.”

The State Fair Community College baseball team is using Centennial Park until the stadium is ready for the Roadrunners' first home game on Feb. 11.

“We're making strides,” Brian Dennison with PC&E said. “Roofers are here working on the roof, dirt guys are working on storm water, turf guys are working on the turf drainage system.”

Liberty Park Stadium is known as one of the finest examples of a small ball field and wooden grandstand in the nation. Epple says she was struck by the stadium's beauty when interviewing in 2008.

“It just kind of won me over,” Epple said. “I'm very excited to be a small piece of it to get this project done. This will give us the opportunity to host more games, to play games there all year long and really bring some tournaments to Sedalia, so we're really excited for this project.”

She is also happy much of the work went to people who live here.

“There's a lot of local contractors.” Epple said. “I would say 90% of the subcontractors are within the area, which is always nice to have local contractors. But we're happy, we're on budget and we're very excited for the project.”

Architect Kevin Wade with Robert Rollings Architects is looking to honor the historic building while tending to the areas damaged by weathering.

“The main goal is obviously to keep it in period,” Wade said. “This is one of the last of the WPA stadiums that were built. There are several all over the Midwest and this is about the biggest.”

Wade is taking extreme measures to keep the building as historically accurate as possible while saving it from the ravages of time.

“We match everything as much as we can,” Wade said. “But also to modernize it we're going to be bringing in things like a new field, new outfield fences, new finishes that'll match the existing ones, but also new seats new bleachers all the sort of good stuff that comes with the modern stadium.”

Being so exposed to the elements means some parts of the building must be replaced with new materials.

“It doesn't really have a thermal envelope so it's been exposed to the weather,” Wade said. "So we're opening things up and learning what 90 years of rain will do to a building.”

Chris Howell can be reached at 660-530-0146.



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