A project is continuing with Greene County Youth Athletic Association because of a large-sized grant.

GCYAA received a $200,000 for two year grant from Grow Greene County Gaming Corporation earlier this year to make electrical improvements to the baseball and softball fields in Jefferson. GCYAA President Travis Warnke says their contractor, D&R Electric in Carroll, has been great to work with, including the night they were awarded the grant at Wild Rose Casino and Resort in Jefferson in April.

“We were shocked by how much it was, of course, we were not anticipating that. The minute we got off the stage we text him that, ‘Hey we got this amount.’ And he immediately got on the phones, emails, whatever he had to do and he started ordering things, because he knew that if we didn’t get it ordered we wouldn’t get things in this year.” 

Warnke tells Raccoon Valley Radio following the August 2020 derecho and the tornadoes from last year that caused damage to the fields, showed them additional problems with their entire electrical system. Warnke points out certain aspects were not meeting state codes, due to the age of the facility when it was built in the 1950s. 

“It was built to stand the test of time. We just upgraded it to further that test of time so it could last even longer. The facility down there is really a very good facility. It’s nice that we were able to get it up to today’s standards.”  

Warnke adds included in the project are all new field lights as well as the ability to have food trucks stationed near the concession area. He anticipates the project to be completed by this December.