Another recreational resource has been added to those owned by the city of Mount Airy, which didn’t involve any construction or other major undertaking but the acquisition of one already existing.
“Graham Field now is officially a city facility,” Mayor Ron Niland announced Wednesday during a “visioning budget retreat” in which Mount Airy council members and department heads discussed numerous local issues including those in the recreational realm.
Many local citizens might have assumed the ballpark situated at the northern end of town near the old Jones School was already under the city government umbrella due to being within Mount Airy’s corporate limits.
But Graham Field, which was completed in 2002, actually has been owned by Surry County along with other former school properties and was leased to Mount Airy for recreational uses, mainly Little League baseball.
The city’s present 10-year lease was not set to expire until 2027, but a curve ball of sorts was tossed into the equation last July when the Surry County Board of Commissioners declared Graham Field surplus property along with the former school located across Jones School Road from the field.
This involved county officials attempting to sell those two sites along with the former Westfield School property on N.C. 89.
That provided an opportunity for Mount Airy to acquire Graham Field, a lighted facility that city officials unsuccessfully sought to obtain in conjunction with the expiration of the last 10-year lease in 2017.
Niland says this was a logical step for the municipality, since it has long been using the facility for recreation purposes including Little League.
“The county doesn’t really need to own it, because they don’t run the recreational program for the city,” the mayor reasoned. “So it just made sense.”
Meanwhile, the price for Graham Field also seems right.
“We’re going to end up paying $12,500,” Niland said Wednesday.
Mount Airy’s acquisition of the facility further will provide a sense of security, given that the county’s action to surplus it last year could have resulted in Graham Field’s ownership by another individual or entity.
“So we don’t have to worry about some future group taking it away,” Niland said.
A contingent of citizens in Mount Airy led by the late Scott Graham — who also served as a city commissioner about 10 years ago — developed the baseball field in the early 2000s. This involved sizable investments of money, time and other resources.
In the years since, the city government has maintained liability insurance coverage for Graham Field; undertaken renovations, alterations and other improvements to its buildings and grounds; and provided for the maintenance of those.
It reportedly once was declared the best Little League field within a 500-mile radius by officials of the Cal Ripken youth league.
After attempting to gain control of Graham Field in 2017, Mount Airy officials were met with resistance by the majority of county commissioners who didn’t see that as beneficial to Surry residents as a whole, based on previous reports.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
Be First to Comment