SANFORD — There were about 800 feet of fence boards to install, but the enormity of the task didn’t seem to be a problem for members of Curtis Lake Christian Church.

Under fair skies and warm temperatures Sunday, about a dozen or more church members carried the painted boards to the framework at Goodall Park and then nudged and nailed them into place.

The boards had been painted earlier this month by members of the Sanford Kiwanis and Rotary clubs.

The installation of the outfield fence is among a host of improvements to the ballpark since the effort to spruce it up began about a year ago, when H. Allen Mapes, Parks and Recreation Director Marcel Blouin, Town Manager Mark Green and others put their heads together.

Mapes was looking toward 2015, which will mark the 100th anniversary of the ballpark. And while the town’s parks staff keeps the park shipshape, Mapes said projects could be completed to make it look even better.

The good news is that the quest to gather enough money to do all of the improvements has been accomplished.

Mapes told the town council last week about $280,000 had been amassed, through several generous donations and money the town set aside for a project a few years ago that didn’t materialize. There were substantial gifts and pledges from Sanford Institution for Savings, the Sanford Mainers baseball team, the Gerard and Gertrude Genest Charitable Trust, The William Oscar Emery Trust, the Mapes family and others.

“We’d like to find another $20,000,” Mapes told the town council.

The following day, the Industrial Development Corporation pledged the remainder.

Many of the improvements have already been made. An ornamental fence has been installed along Roberts Street, and the Benton Playground parking lot, across the street from the ballpark, has been paved. New benches and equipment boxes have been purchased and handicapped parking has been spruced up.

A new warning track is being built, and the outfield has been leveled.

“It was a cow pasture for some time,” said Mapes, who said leveling the outfield will benefit the field hockey teams perhaps even more than it does the ball teams that play at the park.

The last planned upgrade will be to the lighting on the field, a new scoreboard and foul poles.

Goodall Park was built in 1915 by the Goodall brothers, sons of textile baron Thomas Goodall. Babe Ruth hit a home run there in 1919. The park was turned over to the town in 1954, when the mills closed, and is maintained by the town’s parks and recreation department. It was rebuilt after an arson fire in 1997 and is the home of the Sanford Mainers of the New England Collegiate Baseball League. The ballpark is used by Babe Ruth teams and field hockey teams, and concerts have been held there, too.

For Curtis Lake Christian Church, organizer Marisa Stam said installing the fence boards was part of a series of what the church calls “Unthinkable” events, held three times a year.

“We hope to bless the individuals and organizations we serve by doing jobs that they may not be able to get to or afford, due to lack of labor or funds,” said Stam.

On Sunday, church teams worked with volunteers from the town, Nasson Community Center, Childcare Services of York County, the YMCA, York County Shelter Programs and Moon Run Farm.

“Over 350 people from our congregation came out to serve,” said Stam.  

Asked how he viewed the efforts to paint and install the fence boards, Blouin, the parks and recreation director, had just one word: “Priceless.”

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 or twells@journaltribune.com.