Complex Manager said local sports groups like the Trigg County Youth Athletic Association (TCYAA) travel to neighboring areas like Lyon County and see indoor hitting facilities – which are used to help players improve their swing – and then ask for one here.
Rogers said that for a 40 – 50-foot building with at least one large batting cage and three smaller batting cages and at least one pitching machine, they would probably look at a ballpark figure of $65,000.
He added that with the approval of the board, he would hold a meeting with the TCYAA, Trigg County High School baseball and softball coaches, the Diamond Club and the TCHS Booster Club.
Rogers said he intends to ask each of those groups to chip in on the cost of the building in some way.
“If we’re willing to have it, then those organizations that are going to be using it will pay for it,” said Rogers. “I don’t think that the Recreation Complex should provide an indoor hitting facility, but I think we can host one.”
Rogers said Trigg County Judge Executive Stan Humphries has given him the okay to use the land that would be necessary for the building, and that it would likely be built at the complex. He also said the building itself would probably not have to be heated or cooled, and that additional bathrooms would probably not be necessary.
Although a vote was not taken, the board members that were present said it was good idea and that Rogers should go ahead and schedule such a meeting.
Rogers said he’s still waiting on a new athletic director and a new baseball coach at TCHS before that meeting can be scheduled, but he thinks all the groups he mentioned will eat part of the cost of the building.
He added that he doesn’t know with certainty that the building will come to fruition, but many people have asked for one, and the groups have all said they will help pay for the costs.
The group was one voting member short of a quorum on Monday, and there wasn’t a quorum last month, either. With the resignation of then-Chairman Ralph Thomas earlier this year, Scotty Hampton, who was a voting member, took over in his stead. With the resignation of Jim Perrin, the board has effectively lost two voting members.
However, the members present were under the impression that according to the bylaws, the number of voting members needed for a quorum remains the same even when the number of total board members doesn’t.
Hampton and Jeff Broadbent, who is a magistrate with the Trigg County Fiscal Court and a non-voting Complex Board member, said they would talk with Humphries about adding at least one new member.
The board also discussed the possibility of adding shade canopies to the bleachers, canopies that also might stop foul balls. Rogers didn’t have any cost estimates and said he would have to take a closer look at it.
