Help Restore Hemphill

Our children deserve a facility where they can enjoy participating in team sports without the parents worrying about their safety. The fields where so many of us spent our summers playing baseball and softball are now becoming an embarrassment and eyesore. For a number of years, the continued deterioration of the baseball and softball fields are not only unsightly, more importantly, they have become hazardous. Failure to maintain these fields has led to preventable injuries of our children which are certainly only to escalate as the conditions worsen. We are pleading with the city, mayor, board of aldermen, parks department and any other officials to take an honest evaluation of our facilities. Get out of your office and walk around our fields and see the atrocious conditions. Some of the problems are minor and can be rectified with a little time and effort, while others need a major overhaul. We, the parents, are willing to put in the effort to assist you with revamping our park if you allow us to help. A small example of some of the problems are: the fields do not have adequate lighting for night games; bleachers do not exist for a majority of the fields or in a state of disrepair; grass is not cut on the fields or in the spectator areas or if it is cut, it is the day before games and lumps of grass impede play ; fences and wooden backstops have holes or the fencing is bent allowing balls to pass through; fields have dangerous and un-level transitions from grass to dirt; playing fields are un-level; wooden pitching mounds manufactured for the specific purpose of practice areas are used on fields instead of dirt mounds; and so much more. We are asking you to take an interest in our park for the enjoyment of our children and revive the pride we once had in our facilities.