Dear Editor,

First, I’d like to say I’m opposed to constructing a ball diamond next to the Veterans Memorial. It would diminish the beauty of the Veterans Memorial with a baseball fence so close to the exhibit and limit or prohibit the Veterans Memorial from adding any display of military equipment or expanding. Secondly, it becomes the proverbial case of throwing money down the toilet! Moving the diamond from downtown to here adds nothing, only continues a one diamond facility. Whatever happened to long range planning, a five-year plan or 10-year plan of providing adequate sports facilities for sports programs in New Glarus? The long range planning should have begun in 2010, when the Veterans Memorial was proposed.

I have three daughters who graduated in 1987, 1988 and 1992. Sports activities served then was Baseball: Home Talent and High School, T-Ball, Little League Baseball and Girls Softball. We had one baseball diamond and one softball/Little League baseball diamond. The class sizes of my daughters’ ranged from 45 to 50 students per class.

Now what do we have? One baseball diamond, one softball/Little League baseball diamond, two soccer fields, and high school soccer is played on the football field. Actually, soccer has grown in popularity and participation. It also can use school property for practice fields. It now has the best facilities for the program.

When the current classes graduate at the high school, most classes will run over 90 students, or just under. Thirty years ago, t-ball was played one night a week at the baseball diamond. There were six teams and the ball field was divided into three diamonds. Summer Little League baseball combined 3rd and 4th grades, 5th and 6th grades and 7th and 8th grades to make three teams. Now we have doubled the class sizes. We probably need 12 teams for t-ball and every class from 3rd through 8th could field a team for Little League baseball. That’s six teams. Girls softball may not have changed much? I don’t know! There is not enough diamond time to get this many teams playing time.

The village board has not bought any property to expand facilities since the baseball field and Veterans Park was acquired. We need a minimum of two Little League baseball/softball diamonds, now! There is property available next to the village that could fill this need. The time to secure options to purchase or buy land suitable to build a two diamond complex is now. If we solve the baseball, softball, Little League baseball needs, maybe the Library building will also be solved.

Allen Fjelstad,

New Glarus