OLD ORCHARD BEACH — With a national college baseball tournament less than a month away, and other events to follow, volunteers at The Ballpark are working steadily to put on the finishing touches to make sure the facility is ready.

The Ballpark, once the home of the Maine Guides minor league baseball team and later a venue for performers such as Stevie Ray Vaughn, was derelict for about 15 years until a large scale volunteer effort began in 2008 to revive the facility.

Now, two years later, The Ballpark is just about ready for the USCAA 2010 National Baseball Tournament, which will be held Monday, May 9 through Saturday, May 15.

“It’s all coming together,” said Town Council Chairwoman Sharri MacDonald.

The town had a “phenomenal report” from an insurance inspection last week, said MacDonald, and there were “a few little things to button up,” before everything was complete.

Town Manager Jack Turcotte said at a Town Council meeting Tuesday night that the “insurance certificate is in the mail” and there are a few security projects that are being finished up, including heightening the railings along stairways, filling up cracks in the cement of the stadium and installing fencing.

To date, more than $250,000 of materials have been donated to the facility, plus countless volunteer hours.

“I’m just totally amazed,” said Ballpark Commission member Paul Crossman last week. “The scope of this is just beyond imagination.” 

Crossman gave a tour of the clubhouse, which in recent years had been used as a haunted house and painted black inside, and had fallen into disrepair.

“This was a disaster, a nightmare of epic proportions,” said Crossman.

Now the building has fresh paint, new carpet, furnished offices, lockers in the locker rooms, a hot tub and freshly scrubbed showers.

The field, once full of seedlings, is now ready for play, and the town has applied for a state license to run the concession building.

Tom Lachance, who has headed the volunteer effort, said the project has moved forward with a lot of positive thinking. Every time the group was down on supplies or had a specific need, someone always came through.

Many people have been able to commit time for the effort, and every volunteer is important, whether they have been able to give two hours or 200, he said. Volunteers have come from not only the community, but other areas of the state. The Ballpark website’s guest book has entries from around the state and the country sharing memories of concerts and games.

Tuesday night, the town dedicated its annual report to The Ballpark volunteers. MacDonald said at the meeting she gets emotional when she talks about The Ballpark.

“It gives me goose bumps,” she said.

On May 22 and 23, two pre-season exhibition games will be held at The Ballpark between the Brockton Rox and the Quebec Capitales, leagues with the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball.

Earlier this week, MacDonald said that since word has gotten out about the CanAm games, people have booked hotel rooms in town for the weekend when the games are scheduled.

People are excited about The Ballpark, she said, and are catching what she called “ballpark fever.”

The Town Council approved $25,000 for The Ballpark Commission Tuesday night, for the purchase of any supplies needed to complete security improvements and other last-minute purchases. MacDonald said the group has tapped out its resources, and the town needed to step up and help.

A town appreciation day for employees, volunteers and community members will be held at The Ballpark on Sunday, April 25 from 1-3 p.m., and will give people a chance to grab a hot dog cooked by town councilors and take a tour of the facility.

Also this summer, youth and adult baseball tournaments will be held at The Ballpark.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 325 or egotthelf@journaltribune.com.