April 6, 2015
For immediate release
For more information contact:
Teresa Weybrew
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Tourism Cares to Help Preserve Historic Baseball Stadium
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. – Doubleday Field, a historic baseball stadium in Cooperstown, New York, will get a facelift this summer thanks to a volunteer program being organized in partnership by Sports Travel and Tours of Hatfield, Mass., and Tourism Cares of Canton, Mass.
Quinton Hasak, supervisor of Doubleday Field, says that when volunteers arrive on Friday, June 12, they will concentrate on painting, cleaning up the concrete and pulling weeds. Quinton says that after the cleanup, the field will be “dressed up and up-to-date, almost restored.”
The clean-up program is part of a six-day trip offered by Sports Travel and Tours. Called Going Yard: Give Back to Baseball, the trip will run from June 8-13. In addition to helping restore Doubleday Field, travelers will also visit the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Yankee Stadium.
Sports Travel and Tours is partnering with Tourism Cares, a nonprofit organization that develops volunteer events at tourism-related sites, to organize the volunteer experience at Doubleday Field. Quinton says he is very grateful for the help.
Volunteers will work on restoring the historic site from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., after which they will be able to relax and have fun with a barbeque and a game of whiffle ball. There is also a baseball game scheduled for after the cleanup period that volunteers can settle in to watch.
Quinton, who has been the supervisor of Doubleday Field for two years, says that despite his background in reconditioning sports fields with a local business called Greener World, he has never been involved in anything quite like the volunteer program. He hopes to get involved with restoration projects at other venues as well. He will certainly be working alongside the 60 or 65 expected volunteers during the Tourism Cares event.
“It’s an excellent idea, and I’m sure a lot of places would appreciate the help as much as we do,” Quinton says.
“Doubleday Field is spectacular,” Quinton adds. “It’s a historic field and a beautiful place, but it’s very difficult for us to keep on top of the maintenance. We’re a municipality, so we don’t have the funds that some people might think. We’re always at a bit of a disadvantage due to that fact.”
Doubleday Field also only charges admission for two events each year: the Hall of Fame Classic, in which retired professional ballplayers put on a game, and the Induction Ceremony, an award ceremony for sportswriters.
Quinton says he tries to keep the stadium, which seats 9,800 people, very welcoming and open to spectators. “We want to make sure to keep it a community gathering place,” Quinton says. “That’s how Cooperstown can give back to the fans.”
Currently, the field, which is owned, operated and maintained by the village of Cooperstown, is primarily used for amateur and American Legion baseball. Although the ballpark has been used for baseball since 1920, it has never been the home of any professional team.
The field is also occasionally rented out for larger events and to teams in order to earn revenue. After rainouts and other cancellations, Doubleday Field hosted 297 games in 2014.
Sports Travel and Tours, based in Hatfield, organizes dozens of sports-related trips each year throughout the United States. Their connections with thousands of hotels, attractions, restaurants, sports venues and airlines allow them to provide sports fans with quality travel experiences.
Learn more about Going Yard or Tourism Cares.
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