Olney baseball complex nears opening day

The Olney school district’s new baseball and softball fields are taking shape on East Main Street and soon will be ready for play, almost a year after voters rejected a $6 million bond issue to give the five-field complex a total overhaul.

Superintendent Dr. Greg Roach told the Olney Independent School District Board of Trustees on Jan. 23 that work is nearly completed on the scaled-back, $1.5 million project almost in time for the start of the boys’ baseball and girls’ softball seasons.

The ball players will play on turf maintained by a new irrigation system with water supplied by Tower Extrusions and will watch the games from new dugouts. Fans will enjoy new lighting, new scoreboards, and a new concession stand and public restrooms.

The complex lacks only new fencing and the scoreboards, donated by Interbank, to be ready to host games, and those tasks should be completed within a month, Dr. Roach said.

“At the end of February or early March, we’ll be playing on it,” he said, adding that inclement weather pushed back the completion of construction. “There will be odds and ends we have to do on it.”

The Lady Cubs softball season begins with an away game against Alvord on Feb. 11, with the first home game falling on March 6 against Archer City. The Cubs baseball team season begins in March, Dr. Roach said.