NITRO, W.Va. — The city council approved nearly $8,000 worth of upgrades for the Nitro High School softball field in hopes of hosting an upcoming little league tournament.
At its meeting Tuesday night, the council approved renovatins to the fence, padding and field covers in preparation to host the state tournament at the field. Parks and Recreation Chair Laurie Elkins said that some upgrades are needed to host the mid-June tournament.
“We are doing some fence repairs, some padding behind the backstop, some safety things,” Elkins explained. “As well as field covers that allow the field to be used more because water doesn’t damage the field as rapidly. And some other things to upgrade concession stands and the maintenance at the field.”
She said some of the money was raised from fundraisers but the upgrades were too expensive to rely solely on that funding. Nitro Mayor Dave Casebolt said that not only is hosting the tournament good for the city, but the Nitro High field can also be used once renovations shut other city parks down temporarily.
“Once we get into our park renovations we will have to shut down the current fields we have,” said Casebolt. “And that softball field will give the kids a place to play. That’s the primary motivation behind the renovation of that field.”
Elkins said the softball field at Nitro High School gets a lot of use; the facility is used by the town’s little league and the middle school in addition to the Nitro High School team.