Westwood Baseball Association Plans Facility Upgrade

The Westwood Baseball Association wants to improve the facilities at Meadowbrook Park, the main field used by the borough's little league teams.

The association plans to replace the old snack stand and a shipping container used for storage at the field with a new, larger two-story field house. The new field house would still include a snack stand, storage room and bathroom, and would also include a meeting room and announcing/press area on the second floor.

Baseball Association President Keith Rivers said that the upgraded facilities would allow Westwood to host more tournaments like the 2011 Bergen All Stars Tournament, which included more than 200 little league teams.

"Meadowbrook Park is going to be one of the best little leaue fields in Bergen County," Rivers said. "This is the last missing piece."

The bulk of money for the project came from hosting the tournament, though the association is also planning to sell clothes and pavers for a patio near the concession stand as additional fundraisers.

The new field house would address several issues with the current building, according to architect William Martin, who is also the borough's zoning board chairman. The bathroom would be made fully handicap-accessible and the snack stand would be repositioned so the people running it would be able to see the game. The upper level would feature sliding windows to allow for videos of games and there would be space for an announcer and a PA system.

Martin said it was a "simple, but functional" design with low-maintenance materials.

The Westwood Council voted to approve the plan at their last meeting, provided the association gets required permits for the project.

"This organization has demonstrated an amazing give-back to Westwood," Mayor John Birkner said.

The Baseball Association hopes to have the new field house ready for opening day in late April 2013. Westwood will be hosting some games for the Charity Classic tournament in May.

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