Let there be lights

Town of Wallkill Little League completes ballpark project

By Mike Zummo
Posted 8/6/20

It’s always a big deal when the Mets and Yankees get together.

It was an even bigger deal on Saturday, July. 25, when the Town of Wallkill Mets and the Town of Wallkill Yankees met each …

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Let there be lights

Town of Wallkill Little League completes ballpark project

Posted

It’s always a big deal when the Mets and Yankees get together.

It was an even bigger deal on Saturday, July. 25, when the Town of Wallkill Mets and the Town of Wallkill Yankees met each other in the Town of Wallkill Little League’s first official night game, under the new permanent lights.

Town of Wallkill First Ward Councilman Mark Coyne threw out the first pitch after championing the project. The Little League park is owned by the town.

The project was paid for using parkland fees, money that Coyne said is dedicated strictly toward maintaining parks in the town. The town also received a $50,000 grant from Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther.

Coyne said the league was involved with making sure the concerns of the park’s neighbors were met and taping off certain areas of the park that wouldn’t be lit heavily at night.

“They were heavily involved how they could make it work,” Coyne said.

The lights were installed by Musco Sports Lighting and the original hope was that they would be ready in time for the fall season, but the lights were not finished until January.

“Nothing moves quickly when you’re dealing with government,” Coyne said. “It had to be done right. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get it done by the end of the fall season, but it had to be done right.”

There were also issues that arose during the construction as the light poles required 10-foot holes and Coyne said builders hit a huge boulder at 8 feet.

The lights were installed in January and the electrical work was done by Harry F. Rotolo and Son. The first night game was originally scheduled to be played during the spring, but the COVID-19 pandemic postponed the Little League season until July. 25.

“It was absolutely disappointing,” Coyne said of not being able to unveil the lights in spring. “You work on something for two years and then you wait for it and wait for it. Anybody who’s been involved in Little League for 20 or 30 years has wanted lights. But at the end of the day, you have to keep in mind, it was there, and the day was coming that we could turn them on.”

However, it wasn’t the first Town of Wallkill game played under the lights. Last year, the league rented lights and even though they were temporary, affected the players.

“I remember a kid coming up to me while I was out and he said, ‘Coach Mark, I didn’t care if we won or lost, it was a great feeling to play underneath the lights’,” Coyne said.
Now the lights are permanent and will stand for not only this season, but the decades ahead. The park is adjacent to a residential neighborhood, so night games are only played on Friday and Saturday night.

“It feels great and I know for the next 20 years, there’s going to be Little Leaguers feeling like big leaguers playing under those lights.”