‘So much potential’: Avon Township baseball complex could get fresh start

The Avon Township Youth Baseball & Softball Complex has been quiet this season for the first time in decades, but its owners plan to fill the void.

The volunteer baseball organization that had fielded generations of players on the ballfields and created family memories since 1966 dissolved last summer.

A reimagining of the property is in the early stage, but there is plenty to work with at the 10-acre site along Hainesville Road between Route 120 and Washington Street.

“There's so much potential here,” said Katie Gamroth, executive director of the Round Lake Area Park District.

There already has been some activity at the site, including the removal of older storage and concession buildings for safety reasons. Some baseball fencing and dugouts also have been removed and a few of the front baseball fields will be converted to a soccer field to help encourage more use of the park, according to Gamroth.

The facility’s back baseball fields are being used temporarily by a local organization for practices and a limited number of games, said Ane Olivares, RLAPD's superintendent of parks.

Gamroth said officials will be looking for a design team to help create the vision for the space. A key part will be connecting with residents, Gamroth and others agree.

“We definitely want to get community input,” Avon Township Supervisor Michele Bauman said. “That's our goal — to figure out what the community needs and wants.”

RLAPD, Grayslake Community Park District and Avon Township acquired the property in 1983 from the Grayslake Gelatin Company, which ended its manufacturing operation in that village the year before.

The transaction required the Hainesville Road property to be used in perpetuity for recreational purposes. Another requirement is that no changes be made to interfere with it being leased to the youth baseball association or successor entity.

However, should the baseball association cease to provide a baseball program — as it has — the owners can provide other recreational programming.

The township doesn’t have money to build a park but will be engaging the public on potential uses and will apply for grants to support the project, Bauman said.

Gamroth said a timeline hasn’t been set, but once it is the project will be highlighted on each of the owners’ websites and shared through media outlets.