Gift Pays for Cherry Lawn Ballfield Upgrade

Darien Little League has asked the town to accept a gift of at least $208,000 to refurbish the Gallagher Field at Cherry Lawn Park.

The ballfield should be a lot safer for kids once it's moved 20 feet away from Brookside Road, said Santo Golino, a Little League coach who's helping to organize the refurbishing project.

The additional distance and a new fence should keep players from rushing toward the street to catch a foul ball, he said.

"As a coach, I cringe every time a foul ball goes into Brookside, because you can have a kid who wants to get the ball," and who may rush out into the street, he said in an interview.

Golino worries even though he emphasizes to his players before games at the field that they need to let those balls go.

The Little League has raised $225,000 in donations to refurbish the field, Golino wrote in an email to town Parks and Recreation Director Susan M. Swiatek.

The money came in both very large and small donations, Golino said.

Last month, the Parks and Recreation Commission gave its support for the plan, and on March 26, the Board of Selectmen did, as well. The detailed proposal is going before the Planning and Zoning Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals later this month.

The Representative Town Meeting must also approve the gift, because it's valued at over $10,000.

In addition to new fencing and moving the field, the renovation of the ball field should remove a three-foot drop between the left and right fields, said Tony Farren, another Darien Little League official.

The field will also be somewhat smaller, bringing it into Little League regulations, Swiatek said. An adult group that now uses the field should be relocated she said, to avoid powerfully hit balls going into a nearby parking lot or community garden.