The final phase of the Van Metre Family Softball Diamond will be installed in the coming weeks, when the new bleachers for the stadium are installed.
Fred Burke helped with the completion of the project, making a $68,000 donation to see new bleachers installed at the softball field.
“When I saw the bleachers were not completed on the softball field, that became my mission to see this done,” Burke said. “You can’t see the entire field with the current bleachers, as these bleachers are not what was intended. The new dugouts impede the view from those bleachers. I met with Dr. Greg Batenhorst quite a few times about this project, so much it became a minor thorn in his side, but it was also a project he wanted to see completed before he retired.”
Mount Vernon activities director Matt Thede said it has always been the plan to have the new bleachers as part of the project, but the bleachers encountered several hurdles.
“There was the COVID-19 pandemic, which delayed completion of the field,” Thede said. “We also saw increased construction costs.”
When the bleachers were originally to be installed, necessary parts went missing in Mexico. The district also had a wire transfer payment for the bleachers get hacked.
After two years of these setbacks, Thede said the school had to get creative on tackling the project. When the bleachers for the Armstrong Family Activities Complex went out for bid, Thede asked for three bids to be made for the project to include the softball diamond as well.
From there, Burke made the significant donation for the project, and Mount Vernon and Cornell shared the remaining $30,000 for the bleacher construction.
This concludes a project that the late Dave Van Metre had funded in this community with the plans, as he said, to build the “best softball diamond in the Midwest.” Van Metre’s impact to the community contributed to a number of projects that were completed, including Cornell College’s football field renovations and the weight room at the high school before the softball diamond.
The construction of the new softball diamond saw an entire new field, lights, dug outs, cages and fencing around the field.
“It fills the philosophy that Dave Van Metre lived by —’a society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit’” Thede said. “Fred will get the chance to sit on those bleachers in the coming seasons at the softball diamond. We as a district are indebted to everyone who has made this facility a reality.”
“Mount Vernon athletes have gotten used to playing on Class A facilities,” Burke said. “I’m glad I was able to make this happen and benefit a facility that Mount Vernon and Cornell share.”
With the seats being installed in December, they will be ready for Cornell softball season beginning in the spring.