September 17, 2020 – West Bend, WI – The West Bend Parks Commission will have an update at tonight’s meeting regarding renovations planned for Carl M. Kuss Field at Regner Park.
It was August 8, 2018 when the community held its first final celebration at the local baseball stadium. For the past few years fundraising has been underway to match a $500,000 grant from the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation.
The renovation includes a new grandstand, restrooms, concessions and the addition of a turf field, new lighting and dugouts.
The matching grant is coming from the public and private sector in West Bend including the West Bend Baseball Association (WBBA).
Early word is the project will be done in phases.
– A turf halo will replace the area around the back and sides of home plate with artificial turf.
– The grandstand will be completed in three phases; the middle section will be finished first and then the wings on either side.
– The concession stand will be remodeled last
– A new local contractor will be hired to install the artificial turf, saving a bit of money from the previous out-of-town firm.
Indications are the first phase of the project is expected to begin yet this year.
Grandstand has long history in West Bend
Prudence Pick Hway has been a longtime supporter of the WBBA.
Hway’s family has ties to baseball and Carl M. Kuss Field that go back to when the grandstand was first located at the Washington County Fairgrounds. The grandstand dates to 1898; it was moved to Regner Park in 1937.
“My grandfather Carl Pick was a big supporter of baseball and he paid to have the grandstand moved, disassembled and reassembled from the Fairgrounds to where it is today at Regner Park,” Hway said.
“This is a tremendous project. Baseball in this community has a rich history, it has all the fun of the boys of summer and it’s very important to many, many contingents in the public.”
The new facility is expected to have better seating, be ADA equipped, and have a high-end press box.
The initial total for reconstruction two years ago was $1.4 million. Hway said financially the WBBA is very close to reaching its fundraising goal.
