Alderwood Little League gets $75,000 grant to finish field
Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, September 16, 2003
LYNNWOOD — Alderwood Little League will receive a $75,000 grant from the Boeing Co. and the Seattle Mariners, officials announced Tuesday.
The Boeing Mariners Care Athletic Field Grant will provide money to complete a third field on Alderwood Manor Youth Club property at 19711 24th Ave. W., in Lynnwood.
The field is 85 percent complete, with recent work including installation of the irrigation system and seeding the outfield grass. The grant will make it possible to finish the dugouts and scorekeeper’s booth and build a grandstand for observers.
When the field is finished, the league will be able to schedule games for all its lower division teams. The league currently uses Snohomish County Parks and Edmonds School District fields to accommodate its 65 teams.
"We have to compete for field time with several other programs in our area," project manager Larry Swartz said in a prepared statement. "Now, everyone will know where our games are. They’ll be on our fields."
Seattle Mariners Chairman and CEO Howard Lincoln said the shortage of youth baseball fields continues to be a problem in Washington state.
Boeing Vice President Bob Watt, who is in charge of community and government relations, said the grant program demonstrates Boeing’s commitment to support the communities where the company’s employees live and work.
The new field will be completed in time for the 2004 Little League season. Swartz said volunteers from Alderwood Little League have been working on the project for almost four years.
"It’s very exciting for us to know that after all the effort we’ll put the first players on the field next April," he said. "The kids are excited. They know it’s a big deal."
The grant will be presented to the league Sept. 26 at Safeco Field, before the Mariners game against the Oakland A’s.
The Boeing Mariners Care Athletic Field Grant program is now in its 19th year. In that time, it has given nearly $1.5 million to youth baseball in Washington state.
Lynnwood is the first Snohomish County city to receive the grant twice, the first time being in 2000.
Arlington received the award last year, while Stanwood got it in 1997, Sultan in 1996 and Mukilteo in 1990.
