The Crookston Parks and Recreation Board met Tuesday afternoon in the Crookston City Hall conference room. The board discussed summer rec numbers, got a pool update, Jim Karn Field improvements, and more. The meeting recap is below.
SUMMER RECREATION UPDATES AND NUMBERS
The meeting started with the board discussing the updates and statistics on the Summer Recreation activities. There are 69 participants in Club Kid, compared to last year’s 62, and Babe Ruth currently has 21 participants. “Last year for Park and Rec, we had a total of 505 participants, and that was for all of the summer programs we offer, and this year we are at 537,” said Jake Solberg, Crookston Parks and Recreation Director. “We thought that would be a good number to let the Park Board know. Activity-wise, things are looking up, and kids are getting more active.”
NUMBERS FROM EACH PROGRAM ARE BELOW-
10U Baseball-27
12U Baseball 22
Babe Ruth Baseball-21
Legion Baseball-13
Baseball: Skills and Drills-32
8U Girls Softball-14
10U Softball-15
12U Girls Softball-14
14U Girls Softball-14
T-ball Boppers-25
T-Ball Big Boppers-56
Club Kid (2-6th grade)-69
Golf-59
Summer Wellness Swimming-6
Swimming Lessons-46
Tennis-74
Men’s Slowpitch Softball-8 teams
Women’s Sand Volleyball League-12 teams
COMMUNITY POOL UPDATE
Two new heat pump actuators have been ordered for the Crookston Community Pool. The plan is to remove the previous pumps and install new ones later this week. “I’m hoping that Thursday and Friday they get it done, then we can start circulating and getting the pool running,” said Solberg. There is no set date for the official re-opening of the pool.
ARENA UPDATE
The possibility of taking out the original fab system for members was discussed at the Board meeting, Crookston Parks and Recreation is leaning towards always having full-time staff on hand at the Arena. “What our system does now, we have a program where we can have those doors lock, so when someone hits the fab at 5:01 a.m., it unlocks,” said Solberg. “We can set the time schedule for opening and closing whenever you want, and I’m possibly looking at getting rid of that.” Crookston Parks and Recreation’s next step in this process is getting new fabs for the individuals holding memberships, and these new fabs will work for the Arena’s open-to-close schedule by date.
The Community room in the Crookston Sports Center was a topic of discussion. The room hasn’t been used much over the last year and a half. The room rental rate is $30, and there were six room rentals in 2022 and four-room rentals so far in 2023.
It was discussed that this room could be converted into a puck-shooting room. The resolution, for now, is to promote the room to see if more people rent it before switching over to a puck-shooting area.
KARN FIELD RENOVATIONS AND LIGHTING PROJECT
In 2022, a new lighting system was installed at Jim Karn Baseball Field. After the fact, it was discovered that multiple harnesses were not salvageable. New harnesses have been put in, everything is operating correctly, and the project is completed.
There is a new project taking place at Karn Field. The Crookston Baseball Association is footing the bill for a new grandstand seating area with 238 seats with a mix of stadium seats with cupholders behind home plate, and off to the side, there will be bench seating. “The baseball association will be purchasing some stadium seating at Karn Field,” said Solberg. “The seats behind home plate will fold up and down with cupholders in them, and then they will wing off down the baselines, and those will be bench seating.”
The new seating arrangement will be handicap accessible. The company said they would work on the bleachers starting in December, January, or February.
PICKLE BALL COURT UPDATES
The pickleball court in Schuster Park is not in favorable playing condition. Two Crookston Pickleball representatives were at the meeting to express their concerns. There was a discussion about resurfacing the court entirely due to the court bubbling, which can be a hazard for tripping during play. Solberg is waiting for the quote from a company to see what the cost would be and if the resurfacing would be possible.
CAMPGROUND CONSTRUCTION
Campground construction is scheduled to start the week of June 26. Spruce Valley Construction is currently putting in the Ag Innovation Center road, and when they complete the road, they will start the campground work. There will be areas that are blocked off. Those locations are not yet disclosed.
