Milton Approves Bell Memorial Park Renovation Project

Staff Report

Work on the proposed Bell Memorial Park expansion will soon get underway. 

The Milton City Council on Monday approved a construction service agreement with Astra Group to perform the renovations for $9.48 million. 

Because the project kicks off in August, the fall baseball season will be split between several locations; however, through agreements with other cities, counties, schools, parks and leagues the Hopewell Youth Association is able to offer the full range of leagues.

Specific field and park scheduling will depend on number of teams in each age group. Generally, though, age groups will play at:

• 4- to 8-year-old tee ball and coach pitch: Fowler and Midway parks, Forsyth County 
• 9 to 10 year olds: Hopewell Middle School, Milton
• 11 to 12 and 13 to 15 year olds: Wills Park, Alpharetta

The new park design will have four dedicated baseball fields with centerfield dimensions of 180, 200, 200 and 280 feet. There will be two rectangular fields with at least one being synthetic turf. 

Both fields will be lined for football, soccer and lacrosse. The second field will also be set up as a 200-foot baseball field.

Programming between spring, summer and fall will vary the configuration of four baseball fields and two rectangular fields versus five baseball fields and one rectangular field.

In April through June 2013 there were three input meetings for residents interested in the proposed Bell Memorial Park expansion project. Additionally, staff contacted representatives from 11 stakeholder groups representing sports leagues, trails enthusiasts, equestrians, local neighborhoods and more to conduct focused research.

These meetings followed a Living Room Conversation in November 2012 at Shannondale Farms in which residents learned about Milton’s purchase of 14 acres to more than double the size of the park.

Milton paid $1.287 million for the land from the city’s parks acquisition budget after a unanimous City Council vote in September of last year. The council later approved Foresite Group’s bid of $54,000 for Bell Memorial Park master plan design and construction services.  

For more information on the project, contact Parks and Recreation Director Jim Cregge at 678-242-2489 or jim.cregge@cityofmiltonga.us.