Athletic fields awarded grant for lights and improvement

When sophomore Gabe Pimsler plays soccer at Louisiana Oaks Park this spring, he will notice new lights on three of the fields, a new picnic shelter, trail improvements and fences.

These improvements will happen as a result of a city initiative to improve the park, in cooperation with a Hennepin County Youth Sports Facility Grant. Louisiana Oaks Park was one of 14 locations to receive a grant, as part of a $2.1 million program to fund sports facilities and equipment for parks around Hennepin County. The park received $250,000 in funds from the County, which will be matched by the city of St. Louis Park.

Northside Park in St. Louis Park benefited from this grant program last year. In April 2011, a construction project began to upgrade the baseball fields at Northside Park. The park had its grand reopening in May 2012. Louisiana Oaks will be the next local park to benefit from the program.

Pimsler said he is glad the fields are going to be improved, since they are important to many Park sports teams.

“(The fields) get so much use. All of the (school) soccer teams except for the varsity team use the fields, and so do the summer league teams,” Pimsler said.

This sentiment was shared by St. Louis Park Recreation Superintendent Rick Birno. Birno said this grant will allow the fields to be used more frequently.

“This project will have a tremendous impact on the community,” Birno said. “We are short on lighted fields, and Louisiana Oaks is a very active park.”

According to Birno, there will be public input meetings in Jan. 2013 to discuss the project. The city hopes to begin construction in the spring, and complete the project by late summer. If necessary, construction will be halted during the summer soccer season.

Sophomore Maddy Bremner said she is concerned about the fields being closed during construction.

“Many teams use the fields to practice, and we don’t really have another complex of fields that we can use while (Louisiana Oaks) is under construction,” Bremner said.

However, junior John Hengel said he believes it is a worthwhile project. Hengel said he has been affected by a lack of lighting in the past, and installing new lights would solve some problems he has faced.

“A lot of the time (soccer) practices go late into the evening, and by the time practice ends it’s too dark to play anymore,” Hengel said.

Park athletic director Andy Ewald said these improvements may impact Park athletics, but will have a greater impact on the community. According to Ewald, many youth programs use the fields in the evenings, and these groups would benefit from lights that allow activities to go later.

“Adding lights to the field could potentially allow for later practices,” Ewald said. “For the community as a whole, it’s a huge benefit. Having fields that are lit is very useful.”