Signs of construction at the future site of Bill Howard Ballpark, a multi-use diamond sports facility that will be the home to the baseball Stars at South Arkansas College, have become more visible this week.
Located at the southwest corner of the intersection of West Hillsboro Street and South West Avenue, fencing and other furnishings have gone up around the site, with earth-moving equipment to roll in shortly after Thanksgiving.
Previous months have been spent on design plan details, securing contracts and taking other necessary steps. Fundraising also has been ongoing, according to Welcome Home co-chairs Rod Mills and Laura Rogers.
Welcome Home is the name of the capital campaign for the project.
“We’re really happy to be at this stage of the ballgame — no pun intended. We expect this to generate a lot of excitement, just like people are getting excited about the housing project,” Mills said, referencing Howard Residence Hall, also under construction now and due to open late next summer. The building will be SouthArk’s first dormitory, housing up to 100 students and located on property near the baseball stadium. Students already are applying to live there.
Both of these projects carry the name of William Howard, a longtime benefactor who has donated several million dollars to the college to financially support them.
Taxpayers also provided funding for a portion of the ballpark's construction by way of the El Dorado Works tax.
There still are many opportunities for businesses, organizations and individuals to contribute, though — in ways both small and large, including naming opportunities, Rogers said. And then there will be chances to contribute just by attending games, she added.
“It’s a way that the whole community can get behind the college — just going and supporting the baseball team,” she said.
“If you love baseball — and I don’t know a lot of people who don’t have some kind of connection to it — and you work downtown, you’ll probably want to take a lunch hour and walk to see a college game,” Mills said.
Both Mills and Rogers have had lengthy associations with SouthArk, and said that many years ago, they never could have foreseen the giant steps that the college has been making recently, including not only the facility improvements but also new and growing academic offerings, regional student recruitment and creative response to emerging area employer needs.
The community support has been phenomenal, they said, and SouthArk also saw its enrollment increase to a six-year high this fall.
“It’s incredible, what all has been happening,” Rogers said. “The college has come into its own in a huge way. There is so much good coming, and I can’t express how excited I am about it.”
“It’s brought a lot of students here, and it will bring more,” Mills said.
The co-chair added that Howard Ballpark will be showplace for junior college baseball not found in many other places in the country.
“It’s going to be like the Murphy Arts District and our downtown area — it’s going to be another draw like those,” he said. “It’s going to be a neat, neat place.”