WAUPUN — Directors for Waupun Baseball, Travis Schultz and Derek Standke, addressed the Waupun City Council Wednesday evening to request assistance in replacing the turf fields at “The Gus” Baseball Complex.
Earlier this year, the City of Waupun received a $1.7 million “American Rescue Plan Act” grant to put towards community development by 2025. With countless options on where to best invest the grant, organizations must come to the City Council to make their case to where they should prioritize funding.
Travis Schultz has been on the Little League board for five years and is the newly elected vice president in October. He has been the tournament director for Waupun for the last four years. Derek Standke has been the High School baseball and Legion coach for the last ten years.
Waupun Little League celebrated the 10th year of “The Gus” baseball complex last spring. On average, the Little League draws about 340 Waupun area kids annually, and 30-35 students in Legion/High School Baseball. Schultz described the significance of Waupun’s state-of-the-art turf fields, and the positive reactions from parents and players.
“I think we have one of the nicest facilities in the state. And we believe that because we’ve been told that,” Schultz said. “Every tournament brings in ten to twelve teams from outside the city. Our travel teams bring in about 575 to 600 families for tournaments from outside this city. They’re here for a day, a weekend, or however long the tournaments may last, and they’re spending their money in Waupun because of the Waupun Little League.”
While artificial turf is durable, maintenance is more costly than natural earth. Turf fields have a maximum lifespan of about 15 years of regular use, and several sections of the current fields have been repaired over the years. Schultz explained that current estimates quote approximately $580,000-$600,000 to completely replace the turf for the three Little League fields and the Varsity field.
“I’m not here today asking you to fund the whole expenditure, we’re just here asking for help,” he said. “We have a state-of-the-art facility that we know is the best in the state. We take a lot of pride in it and we would like to keep it that way.”
Since 2018, Waupun Baseball has spent more than $100,000 dollars on upgrades to the baseball complex, ranging from upgrading the concession stands, to turf grooming, and to general maintenance. Derek Standke elaborated on the facility maintenance, and thanked the City and DPW for all its help to maintaining the facility over the years.
“We have a great working relationship—Waupun Little League, High School, and Legion baseball—with the City and the DPW,” Standke concluded. “We do a great job with our limited resources, but time is running out on the turf so we ask for your assistance.”
They did not specify an amount the Little League was requesting for the turf replacement at the public meeting.
The Waupun Hockey Association made a similar plea to the City Council at last month’s meeting, requesting a portion of the $1.7 million ARPA fund to help replace the Community Center floors used for the ice rink every winter.
