$2 Million Community Campaign to Complete Ballfields at Lincoln Park

City, generous donors partner to provide funding to turf all eight fields; community invited to help ‘take it home’

The City of Pittsburg and generous donors have committed to installing new turf on all eight ballfields at the historic Don Gutteridge Sports Complex in Lincoln Park. Now, the City and a team of community volunteers are inviting residents, businesses, foundations, and organizations to help complete the project by funding the infrastructure needed to make it a regional showcase.

The funds raised will go toward lighting, fencing, scoreboards, backstops, and seating, with a goal of completing as much as possible by August 15 before the 2027 season. Gifts and pledges may be made to the Don Gutteridge Sports Complex Fund at the Community Foundation of Southeast Kansas. All gifts are tax-deductible, and commitments may be fulfilled over three years. To give online, visit southeastkansas.org/gutteridge.

The donors, who have chosen to remain unnamed, are funding new turf across all eight fields, the infield, and the outfield. Mammoth, a national turf company whose recent local projects include the new Pittsburg State University track, will perform the work. Turfing is scheduled to begin in August 2026, with the complex slated for completion in late spring of 2027.

Organizers say the upgrades will mean far fewer rainouts, more space for practices and games, and the chance for Pittsburg to host regional tournaments that draw out-of-town families and the spending that comes with them. The new turfed surfaces will also expand opportunities for soccer and football and broaden access to the park.

“This is a once-in-a-generation chance to finish something special for our community,” said Kris Loy, Director of Parks and Recreation for the City of Pittsburg. “The donors have given us an incredible head start with the turf. With the community’s help on the infrastructure, we can complete the entire complex at one time and give our families a place to be proud of for decades.”

Dr. Ryan Sorell, who came to Pittsburg to play baseball at Pittsburg State University and now coaches his own kids in youth sports in addition to running his medical practice, said the project’s biggest payoff may reach well beyond the fields themselves.

“The vision of turf fields and weekend tournaments at home may seem selfish at its core, but for anyone who has spent a weekend in another community living out of suitcases at hotels and spending money on restaurants and entertainment between games, the idea of what ‘sports tourism’ could bring to Pittsburg was obvious and right in front of us,” Sorell said. “Hundreds, if not thousands, of families through the spring and summer visiting our community every year, eating at our restaurants, shopping at our businesses, and falling in love with our town is something that would benefit so many people beyond just the kids who would not have to have their Tuesday night baseball games rained out.”

The upgrade to the Don Gutteridge Sports Complex will ensure sports enthusiasts can play for many years to come, said Gary “Doc” Grimaldi, a retired physician who has spent most of his life in Pittsburg and knows these fields from every angle.

“This is going to be outstanding, and it is long overdue,” Grimaldi said. “I am old enough to remember when I started playing in the park in the late 1950’s.  I have very fond memories of those years and still have lifelong friendships that started when I was nine years old.”

For many, this project has been long awaited.

“There are a lot of folks in this community who have dreamed for a long time about upgrading these ballparks for our youth,” said Joe Dellasega, a fundraising volunteer leading the campaign. “For anyone who played in our youth baseball and softball leagues, played slow pitch softball as an adult, grew up in this park, or watched their own kids and other youth play ball, this project is a dream come true. It’s a dream the City set in motion, and donors accelerated it because they wanted to make it happen sooner rather than later. My inspiration is the hours on these fields having batting practice with my dad, playing, coaching, watching my kids grow up here, and making friends with folks I never would have had the chance to meet.”

Along with the generous donors, City Manager Daron Hall shared that it was thanks to the Pittsburg City Commission which started down this path with the intent of turfing a few fields.

“The momentum the commission created will transform the Don Gutteridge Sports Complex and have a generational impact on our residents, their families, and visitors,” Hall said. “Our donors have always made the difference in large initiatives like this, and the opportunity now exists for all of us to join those donors to finish it right. Thanks to all the City Commissioners, City staff, donors, stakeholders, and fundraisers who have worked to get us this far. I look forward to seeing us ‘take it home’ together.”