Expanded baseball field in Bush Park draws opposition and support

"If you build it they will come." Most people think this was a famous line in the movie Field of Dreams, as regards a baseball field, but actually the line was "If you build it he will come." One person, not lots. 

Here in Salem, there's both a lot of anxiety and a lot of excitement over a proposed expansion of the Willamette University baseball field into Bush Park (yeah, its official name is Bush's Pasture Park, but few use it). Opponents worry that if the stadium is built, they will indeed come, causing noise, parking, and other problems for the neighborhood.

A story in today's Salem Reporter by Abbey McDonald, "Neighbors question public benefit, impact as Spec Keene Stadium plans advance," starts off this way:

A procedural vote Thursday that would advance plans to develop an existing baseball field adjacent to Bush’s Pasture Park for professional play has become a rallying point for Salem residents opposing the project over concerns about parking, noise and neighborhood impacts.

Salem’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Board is scheduled to vote in a 1 p.m. meeting on an update to the city’s agreement with Willamette University for the university’s use of Spec Keene Stadium, McCulloch Stadium and Bush’s Pasture Park.

The update is a step in the Willamette University and Salem Baseball plan to use Spec Keene Stadium as the home field for a new home team in the West Coast League that includes the Portland Pickles.

The plan for the stadium includes installing synthetic turf, new lights, an adjusted entryway and field netting at John Lewis Field, according to a report from Parks Planning Manager Rob Romanek. The plans also include added accessibility, new fencing and a new field light pole. 

The project received $3 million in taxpayer money from state legislators earlier this year, primarily because the development will allow local high schools to use the field.

Though the stadium is owned by Willamette University, its location is surrounded on three sides by Bush’s Pasture Park. That has brought questions from some neighbors about the impact large sporting events and new equipment would bring to the historic area.

The well-researched Salem Reporter story has many more details about the stadium, including how it will be used by local high school teams who lack synthetic turf on their own fields. 

This is one of those issues where it's easy to sympathize with both those who think the stadium is a great idea, and those who think it is a terrible idea. The Salem City Council has to approve the plan, since it involves some parts of Bush Park. They'll have to consider the pros and cons, then make what likely will be a tough decision for most of the councilors.

My wife, Laurel, is opposed to the stadium, believing that it will harm the character of Bush Park. She shared with me a message from Joan Stembridge, who is one of those leading the opposition. 

Dear Friends and Neighbors and Interested Salem Residents,

 

I am offering each one of you the opportunity to sign your name onto public written testimony that I will be sending to the Salem Parks and Recreation Advisory Board (SPRAB) very soon.  The Board is meeting next week. (Thursday, 6/13/24)  The Board advises the Salem City Council.

 

The issue is this:  Willamette University and the City of Salem want to expand the footprint of Willamette University's baseball stadium further into Bush park for the purpose of having a for-profit summer league college level baseball team to take up residence in Bush Park's John Lewis Field.

 

The for-profit team would play evenings in June, July and August.  With a home season of at least 27 games....  With the games starting around 6pm and going possibly late in the evening when the park is now closed.

 

The owner of the team hopes there will be at least 500 cars of fans coming to each game.... which will completely overwhelm the 420 parking spaces in Bush Park. 

 

Bush Park is a well loved and heavily used park, especially in the summer months when families and friends from all over Salem come to enjoy evenings of picnics, walking, jogging, and free play.  This is why I am so concerned about the idea of a baseball business moving into Bush Park.  Those Salem residents who want to drive to Bush Park for a relaxing family evening will likely be "out of luck".

 

Please read the written testimony.  And, if you are wanting to support keeping Bush Park as a inner city oasis of beauty for the whole community to enjoy, please respond back to my email with your name and Ward number or your neighborhood association name.  (If you are in doubt, please just give your address and I will find your ward/neighborhood association information.)

 

If you have friends and neighbors who enjoy Bush Park and would be concerned about having the summer evenings usurped by a for-profit baseball business, please send my testimony to your friends and let them know they would be welcome to sign on to my letter to the Salem Parks and Recreation Advisory Board.

 

I will also be sending this letter on to the City Council, as the Salem City Council will be voting on this proposition in the future.  It will be educational for the City Council to know how residents all over Salem feel about having Bush Park taken over by a private business.

 

Thank you for your consideration,

Sincerely,

Joan Stembridge, Ward 2

Here's some images of the stadium that were in the Salem Reporter story, courtesy of Willamette University.