A historic ballfield in Southwest King County, with one of the few remaining wooden grandstands in the state of Washington, will receive an extensive makeover thanks to the annual Boeing Mariners Care Athletic Field Grant. The $100,000 grant, which will be formally awarded on Friday, September 26, during a pre-game ceremony, will be used to renovate and upgrade the playing field at Des Moines Field House Park Ballfield #1. A separate project will bring the historic wooden grandstands there up to code.

This is the 24th year the grant has been awarded, thanks to the generosity of The Boeing Company, a longtime Mariners corporate partner, and Mariners Care, the team’s non-profit foundation. Over the years, the grant has provided over $2 million to improve youth sports fields in the state.

This year’s winner, Des Moines Field House Park Ballfield #1, is one of only four lighted fields that serve the city’s population of 29,000. After the field is renovated, it will be the only lighted competition level baseball field in Des Moines with regulation 90-foot baselines.

The Boeing Mariners Care Athletic Field Grant will be used to realign home plate and the baselines to remove obstructions and dangerous conditions for base runners, relocate outfield light standards out of the field of play, re-grade sloping hillsides that impeded outfield play, improve drainage and irrigation, update dugouts and warm-up areas, reconfigure the backstop to prevent errant balls from hitting neighboring property, and provide ADA access to the field.

Without the grant, Bob Houston, City of Des Moines Recreation Manager, says this project would take years to complete. “Des Moines has limited resources and we would have to phase in the projects over a 5-10 year period. Now we can get all the projects done at once and end up with an awesome facility without having to wait 10 years.”

Work on this phase of the project is set to start this fall with completion scheduled for next spring. When completed, Houston says the historic field will increase play opportunities for the under-served 13-and-older population including the new Mt. Rainier High School freshman team, local Pony League and Legion and South Highline National Little League teams.

Fred Kiga, Boeing vice president of State & Local Government Relations and Global Corporate Citizenship, said that in addition to providing communities with resources everyone can enjoy, the company’s investment in improving ballfields also reflects Boeing’s continuing interest in encouraging families and children to be more active and incorporate exercise into their daily lives.

Des Moines Field House Park is a 5.2 acre King County historic landmark located in the heart of Des Moines. It was built in 1938 by Works Progress Act crews and is a significant example of Depression-era public architecture. It received King County Landmark status in 1984.

Last year’s Boeing Mariners Care Athletic Field Grant was awarded to West Seattle Little League for improvements at Bar-S Playfield near Admiral. Previous winners have included Sehmel Homestead Park near Gig Harbor, Dahl Playfield in north Seattle, Starfire Sports in Tukwila, the City of Arlington and Arlington Little League, South Kitsap Little League in Port Orchard, and Pacific Little League in Lynnwood.

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