Mount Vernon Softball Complex
Collaboration on softball complex hits a home run
By Dave Morris
Mount Vernon-Lisbon Sun
The complex, located off Seventh Avenue near the elementary and middle schoo
ls, opened March 19 for a Cornell doubleheader against St. Ambrose in which the Rams won the opening game, 6-2. Construction had started last August. "It just made tremendous sense to develop facilities both groups of students could utilize," said John Cochrane, Cornell's director of athletics. "It's as nice of a small college/high school facility as you'll find anywhere."
After becoming AD last July, Cochrane and Mount Vernon school superintendent Jeff Schwiebert met to discuss collaborating on joint ventures. While the school booster club had been socking away money for some sort of refurbishment of the existing field, it was after those discussions that Cornell began committing dollars to the joint project.
Cornell committed $35,000 to the project, a number that will rise to more than $40,000 by the time all the bills are paid, Cochrane said. The school put in just under $40,000.
The remainder of the funding came from $26,000 raised by the Booster Club, plus private donations. Cochrane singled out Dan Stoner and Dave Ryan as being instrumental in the fund-raising effort.
"Almost $25,000 came from community members, not taking into account the tens of thousands in donated materials like steel, discounted pricing," he said. "The generous contributions and dramatic discounts from local businesses were critical to being able to complete the project."
Cochrane indicated without the volunteer labor, discounts and donated materials, the cost of the project could have been as high as $250,000. He cited the tireless, on-site work of Mike O'Brien, along with Scott Weber, as being critical to its success.
"They spent hours, days, weeks, months overseeing every phase," he said.
Cochrane also singled out the work of Keith Lowe, Dan Stoner, Dan Cannon and Joe Knight.
"All provided their knowledge, expertise and labor," Cochrane said. "It couldn't have been done without them."
Ron Chapman of the school's Booster Club said the initial vision for softball field improvements involved only things like a new fence and leveling the field.
"It didn't start out with stone dugouts and all that," he said, adding that working with Cochrane at the college increased the scope of the project. "I really don't think this would have been done if it hadn't been pushed."
Chapman also lauded the work of O'Brien and Weber.
"Both were down there even this week getting finishing work done," he said. "It took a lot of individuals to do this, but those two
really deserve special mention." Chapman said the players now have a field that is easily one of the best in the state.
"I think they're going to have a facility to be proud of," he said.
Schwiebert noted that the softball complex is a good deal for taxpayers.
"There was an incredible amount of time donated to this," he said. "It's what schools are all about."
The softball complex will see steady use. The Rams have a 20-game season that runs through the first week of May. The Mustangs begin their season in mid-May and play through mid-July. Junior varsity and middle school teams also will play there.
"It fits nicely into a sharing arrangement," Cochrane said.
"Cornell would really like to express appreciation to the Mount Vernon community and those individuals who have been integral to this project," he added. "It's invaluable to our student-athletes and to the success of the program."
Cochrane calls the new, $15,000 scoreboard the capstone of the field.
"It's the one thing people look at 80 percent of the time, every time there's a swing," he said. "A significant percentage of the dollars raised by members of the community went to the scoreboard. It wasn't in the original budget."
The softball field isn't the first sharing situation involving Cornell and the Mount Vernon schools. Baseball facilities are shared, and both the Mount Vernon and Lisbon high schools make use of the Cornell track and field facilities.
Future sharing could include soccer fields, he said, adding, "those discussions will continue."
