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Half Million Dollar Cantonment Athletic Park Expansion Is 70% Complete
August 24, 2011
A half million dollar expansion at the Cantonment Athletic Park is about 70 percent complete.
The Escambia County Commission awarded the $492,197.50 construction contract earlier this year to low-bidder Roads, Inc., of NWF. The project consists of the addition of two multi-use practice fields at the park, including a grass parking lot, landscaping and drainage improvements.
The new site was wooded and almost completely surrounded by wetlands. A Florida Department of Environmental Protection permit allowed access to the site from the current park with a paved entrance road with a culvert structure.
The park expansion is being funded with local option sales tax monies.
There were a total of nine companies that bid on the project. The second lowest bidder was Gulf Equipment Corp. at $509,312.50 while the highest bid was $653,243.57 from J.B. Coxwell Contracting, Inc.
The Cantonment Athletic Park is an 80 acre regional park at 681 Well Line Road. The park has 12 baseball and softball fields, one football field, restrooms, concessions, playground and security lights. A partnership with Cantonment Baseball Club and Cantonment Football Club provides for various youth athletic programs at the park.
Pictured top: Work is about 70 percent complete on a half million expansion at the Cantonment Athletic Park. Pictured inset: A paved entrance road from the back of the existing park leads across a culvert to the new addition. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Comments
27 Responses to “Half Million Dollar Cantonment Athletic Park Expansion Is 70% Complete”
Sorry but the Pensacola Futball Club has a contract with the county so the only soccer will be at the Brosanham complex that the county basically gave to them. I see what your saying William but my point is that this should have been reported that the football got new practice fields built. Whether the county labels them as “multi Purpose” fields or as a football field is really irrelevant. The baseball at Cantonment ballpark has been taking a hit on here because of misinformed reporting. It needs to be known that the “half million dollar project” is for football only so bash them. lol
Bjay wrote “@william- Multipurpose means they will be used for multiple things. Feel free to try to give any examples of what they will be used for other than football. You cant because they are being built for the footballers who are seperate from the baseballers.”
Soccer in the future? I don’t really know. I’m not disagreeing that they will be football fields, but the county’s agendas, contract with the contractor and bid proposals all call them multi-use and that’s what the story properly reports. I can’t find the word “football” in any of those documents.
@william- Multipurpose means they will be used for multiple things. Feel free to try to give any examples of what they will be used for other than football. You cant because they are being built for the footballers who are seperate from the baseballers. All the moaning and complaining could have been stopped early if it was just reported properly instead of the baseball park get bashed for no reason.
I’M A PRODUCT OF THE VILLAGE BALL FIELD AND I THINK I SPEAK FOR MANY OF US OLD CANTONMENT BOYS AND YES WE DO STILL STICK TOGETHER. I THINK IT IS GREAT. BACK IN THE LATE LATE SIXTIES AND EARLY SEVENTIES WE MAY NOT HAVE NEEDED ALL THIS BUT WITH THE GROWTH ON THE NORTH END I DO SEE THE NEED.I WILL TELL YOU THIS THOUGH. WE HAD WHAT WE HAD AND I KNOW WE WILL NEVER FORGET BASEBALL ,FOOT BALL. COACH WELLS AND DON’T FORGET EDDIE HABOR. ONE THING I WOULD ASK IF YA’LL WOULD. PLEASE SLOW DOWN ON WELL LINE ROAD. THERE ARE ALOT OF OLD FOLKS AND YOUNG FOLKS ON THAT ROAD. I GREW UP AT WELL LINE AND COULTER. IT IS A RACE TRACK.
I am completely upset with some the comments on here about the Cantonment Ballpark.
First of all, I played softball and cheered as this park as a kid along with my brother and we loved every minute of it. My oldest son who is now a senior at Tate also played baseball and football for Cantonment and I would not change a minute of this. This park has some of the friendliest parents to be with all the hours you have to be there for practice and games as well as coaches. I have been to other parks to play in away football games and baseball games and this not always the case – the parent, coaches, and players at some of our other local parks are plain rude and hateful!!!!
Second – this park isn’t as fancy as NEP but as someone else stated they always seem to have big money donated to them no to mention support from the county, no matter what is said about that, which Cantonment does not have. I promise you it’s not from lack of trying by the board members or the parents. I know for a fact a dozen or so parents that pass the park in Cantonment to take their kids to NEP just because of the name of the park which makes me SICK!!!!! My son will tell you he had the best times of his life at Cantonment playing football and baseball and wouldn’t change a thing. He is now a Senior at Tate and plays football on the varsity squad as a starter and the coaches only have positive things to say about him but seem to have attitude issues with other kids that came from these other parks around town because they think they are superstars. Cantonment not only teaches these kids about sports but it also teaches them about sportsmanship which I know for a fact you will not find at the other parks.
Third – I know this park has had some bumps in the road with board members and I have not been there for the last 4 years but my understanding is the people there now are trying to make a difference. Give them a chance and if you are not happy with this then run for a board seat and make a change instead of getting on here and bashing them. Remember the board members as well as coaches are ALL volunteers.
Last – I will be returning next year to little league with my youngest and I would NEVER go to any other park to play but Cantonment!!!!!!!!!!!
About 2 months, good luck with the progress.
Bottom Line…….County $$ goes here, there and everywhere. Sometime you agree and sometime you dont. Spewing hatred for a ballpark you have never played for is just extremely immature. I mean really…….how old are some of you? When my boys were 5 and they would cry and complain something wasnt fair I would tell them life is not fair. Get over it.
Please let’s not lose sight of the fact we are here for the kids. Some kids have beautiful parks, some dont. Some parks get worked on, some dont. I can honestly say none of my children have ever come home from football or baseball and said “Mom, our park is a dump”. What I ususlly here is “Mom, did you see that tackle, did you see my pass, did you see that catch, did you see my homerun.” & “Whats for dinner, I’m STARVED”. And THAT my friends is what it is all about!
bjay wrote:
>>No you didnt see it in the article because once again things are not reported the way it should be.
See the second paragraph, which says “two multi-use practice fields”. That’s what the county is paying to be built. That’s how they are described in both the contract and bid solicitation.
@Jimd- who built the fields in Jay? If im not mistaking it was the county right?
@DAGB- No you didnt see it in the article because once again things are not reported the way it should be. Also to say it looks terrible is absolutely ridiculous. When was the last time you saw the place? There have been several volunteers as well as myself up there every weekend taking care of the park. In the past i understand it wasnt kept up with as much as some would like but Cantonm,ent doesnt have $50,000 a year to pay someone to keep up with it like NEP. When all these parents take their kids and drive this past this park and take your money to NEP you have no right to complain about their prices and our fields. The park is not a dump anymore. And FYI the bathrooms are cleaned everyday that there is ball out there. Im sorry that the funds are not there to pay someone to sit outside the bathrooms and clean the messes as they happen. On any day there atleast 300 kids and adults that use those bathrooms. There are going to be messes just like there are at EVERY ballpark. If you want to complain about wasted money going to ballparks call the county and talk to Michael Rhodes and ask him how many ballparks have been built in this county that are not being used at all. Cantonment Baseball has not been given any new fields and as far as I know we havnt recieved anything from the county since the park has been built. Cantonment Baseball has been and still is supporting itself.
I like the way you think JIMD but that means using common sense and when the county commissioners try using common sense… okay never mind that whole line of reasoning just went out the window to Cantonment sports complex.
Just another reason to prove that Escambia County Florida doesn’t exist any further north than Molino, except when they want taxes for items in the middle and southern end of the county.
If they are going to spend money on installation and mainteance of sports fields, then the community should vote on this during an election. This way if you want something like this in your neighorhood, then you are willing to pay out an extra $500 – $700 per year in your property taxes. This would ensure the fields are maintained, no trash, bathrooms kept clean and provide job for someone to do this.
Let’s face it the Cantonment ballpark and Football fields complex is taken care of like a dump. Come to the north end of the county and look at how the ballparks are kept up even in the off season. GO TO NWE – MOLINO – Century and see how the VOLUNTEERS TAKE CARE OF THEIR PARKS! This is where some of the money should be spent. And I said some of the money. Throw the money down the drain at Cantonment and send some money up towards this end of the county.
So I see some of you Cantonment park users saying how we should grade you on your current conditions.. OKAY fair enough. LET’S SEE HOW YOUR PARK LOOKS AFTER A FEW MONTHS. The parents of the Cantonment ball park will let the place go back to the way it was. Of that I have no doubt.
Who cares how the food is? If some of you don’t like it then don’t eat it. That’s an ez enough fix. But wasting $500,000 on a place that the community is going to let fall to ruin. BLAHHHHHHH!
Didn’t see in the article where it stated which sport would be utilizing the field. Glad you seen and read that bjay. But regardless of who is using what it looks TERRIBLE. If football is using the diamonds to practice then the parents along with coaches should help keep it all up.
Let me add this also. The footballers are practicing on the baseball fields right now. That does not help the condition of the fields. so when you complain about field conditions you should see the need for these football fields being put in.
THIS IS NOT A BASEBALL PRACTICE FIELD GOING IN! ITS FOR FOOTBALL. THEY ARE 2 SEPERATE THINGS. COMPLAIN ABOUT THE FOOTBALL COWBOYS NOT THE BASEBALL COWBOWS! AND YES I USED CAPITAL LETTERS BECAUSE I AM YELLING!
Noone is saying to punish kids for anything. Build it if there is a need. I am the one that made the comment about the park being a dump because it is. I too live up here and pay the same taxes, but think other parks would have benefited more with the money. Is it because the next park is “better” no. Cantonment does not have the registration to justify the extra fields.. I hope the new Board can turn the park around but they will need the parents to share the same vision and come together. Have we been to other parks and seen the mess YES. We played a tournament at Myrtle Grove this past season and I thought it was terrible to host an event and the park look the way it did structurally. Just to justify the registration numbers for Cantonment, ask why for this same TEE-BALL tournament they had to recruit from coach pitch to even field a team.
Back to the subject of this you cant truthfully say this was needed, wanted? you bet.
Well….this is awesome!!! This is good for all, especially the KIDS…which is what it’s all about!!! I’m not a big fan of kids staying out late due to practice But at least kids are getting exercise, etc. Go Cantonment Cowboys!!!
My child has been playing at cantonment for years and I can say we love it!!!! It is clean, I’m happy to see the work they are doing!
@footballmom, well said!!
My son has played baseball at Cantonment for the last nine years so I know all too well the ups and downs of the park. I’ve coached several of those years as well. Yes, we have our problems but so does every other park in the county. I could sit here, behind the anonymity of my key board, and list a multitude of problems that each of them have. Everything from parking, maintenance, lights, concession stands,no room for expansion, bathrooms and “holier than thou attitudes” but I’ll take the high road. As stated, maybe it was just our turn or maybe your county commissioner didn’t do what was needed to win the money for your park? Get over it!!
As far as being a dump? Not even close! Trash is an issue because if the cans aren’t emptied every night the animals come in an scatter it to the four winds. The fields? Ha, our practice field is in better shape than most of the fields we visited! I had several visiting teams tell me they wish they had fields as nice as ours. Not to mention several teams from other parks use our fields to practice on. The concession? Mean Gene does just about every park in the county so he must be doing something right!
Sounds like some of you haven’t been to the park lately, are talking out your butt and just being hateful. See you at the park!!
Lets get some things understood here. First the $500,000 is going to the FOOTBALL side of the park and NOT the baseball. Second there is a new board out there this year and we are trying our best to clean the park up and if you have been out there within the last month you WILL see that is happening. Third The concession stand has been under an outside company that also handles the concessions of many of the ballparks in this area.
I will be the first to admit that in recent years this park has not been taken care of as it should have been but the funds is not there to hire an outside company to take care of our maintenance. Instead our board members and a couple coaches have been working our butts off to make the improvements that the park needs. The biggest problem why this has happened is because parents will drive from molino and cantonment to take their kids to NEP. This was happening before the park went down. They claim better coaches and fields but that just isnt true. You are more than welcome to look at our trophey case in the board room for proof. This ballpark will be coming back and it will be nice again. All we ask is for everyone to grade the park on how it is now and not what it was in the past.
TAXPAYER- Just FYI but when we buy and spread dirt, we pay for it and we spread it ourselves. We also cut our own grass and weed eat also. NO backscratching going on over here!
Ok seriously people. Once again, why are the children of Cantonment not as worthy as any other children in the COUNTY for COUNTY money? We parents In the “dumpy” North End of the county pay taxes just like everyone else. So what. It was our turn. Name me a park in this county that hasnt had “their turn”. If you are a newer park, you may have to wait until it is your turn. Yes, Cantonment park was in pretty bad shape for a number of years but there is new blood in there and for those of you who may not know, the park is making a comeback.
@ Karl – you have mentioned how disgusted you ALWAYS are when you come to our park, well………let me ask you this, have you ever played at Brent, Bellview, Myrtle Grove, NW Escambia, Pace, Milton, ect and had to use the facilities in the middle of the Saturday of Jamboree or how bout noon on opening day of baseball?????? You should really not single out any one park for cleanliness on days that there are a million children running around. As far as the consession stand goes, that is run by an outside company, not the parents of Cantonment. And one more thing, when you seen the trash on the ground did you lean down and pick it up? Did you tell the person you seen throwing it down to pick it up? I for one pick up random trash on the ground everyday, not just at the ballpark. So, I guess if you are not part of the solution ……..just sayin.
@ Cantonment Mom, I am glad you are happy plaing ball at NEP / Ensley. I personally am happy playing at Cantonment. I’m not going to sit around and knock your park or anyone elses because of my personal preference so……….you probably should come out and visit, make a few friends before you make assumptions…….again, just sayin……..
Well i would like to say that i have Lived in Cantonment for 3years and last year i wanted to sign my kids at the Cantonment Park but when I went there I seen NO ONe, SO we played at NEP it is a good park but just dont believe in paying sooo much money for My Kids to paly Ball, Then this year I seen signs every were for sign up at Cantonment for Fall ball went to the Park and was told that Cantonment will not have Fall Baseball this year cause there was only 5-7 kids sign up. SO i would like to say why put that kind of Money into something that isnt going to used, or taken care of?????????????????????????
It is amazing that they get a half million dollar expansion and we could not even get them to deliver and spread dirt at Molino Park. We had to get the dirt and spread it on the fields ourselves. Does anyone know who we have to befriend to get a few renovations at our park. We do not have enough fields and we usually end up practicing in tall grass, if we have not had time to mow it, behind the ball park or on the wee-ball field. I guess that’s the way it goes, we do not scratch enough backs out here in Molino.
I would also love to hear the reasoning behind this project. I know it wasn’t needed for overwhelming registration. So those that approved this please educate us. The park is a dump, so why add more that will not be maintained????
Really, that is what think of a place for the kids of Cantonment?? Kids have played there for yrs, and never had a problem with the concession stand, had to eat dinner there a few times!! It is not the kids fault that the park is not keep up to your standards!! That would be the ones that run the parks fault, but u think that they should punish the kids for that, SHAME ON U!!! The park aint always dirty like any park in the world u have rival teams coming in and BAM u get a big huge mess!! Cantonment dont get much and when some1 actually tries to do something good for the community we get bashed!! Quit hating on Cantonment we have AWESOME KIDS and they deserve the BEST!!! Congradulations on the improvements!! GO COWBOYS!!!!!!
How is it that Cantonment can get this much money and improvements for their park. When they (Cantonment) can’t keep their current facilities in decent shape? When our kids from other parks go to the Cantonment facility we are ALWAYS disgusted with how their park is kept up. It is always filthy in the restrooms, there is trash everywhere, and don’t even think about eating the food from the concession.
Has anyone from the County commission ever been to that park during baseball season to see how they take care of their park? I doubt it! Instead the Cantonment park is awarded close to half a million dollars!
County commisioners – There are other parks that take care of their grounds and facilities that don’t receive a dime from the county! It’s all done thru volunteerism and donations. Just a fraction of that misspent money that the commission is sending down the drain at Cantonment could be put to far better use at other facilities.
So come on Cantonment park users start posting your comments about how you guys take care of your facility. LOL. You honestly can’t do it. Or if you do then you’re delusional. Oh and have a nice day!