CANTON ‒ Kids often play baseball and other sports on the grass field behind the J. Babe Stearn Community Center.
But if it rains and the field gets muddy, organizers have to cancel games or lose valuable practice time.
The center teamed up more than 10 years ago with the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation in an effort to build a multipurpose synthetic turf field in the back of the center. Supporters said they would raise the funds, only for the pandemic and then inflation to put the project repeatedly back on the shelf.
Then sometime in 2023, Tim Haverstock was at J&K Printing on Navarre Road SW. He struck up a conversation with Rex Hexamer, who was the CEO of the Stark County Development Board. Hexamer connected Haverstock to the owners of ForeverLawn Northeast Ohio in Marlboro Township. They said they could build the turf field for far less.
Two years later, the finish line is in sight: Haverstock held a ceremonial groundbreaking Nov. 6 for the J. Babe Stearn Community Center & Boys and Girls Club of Canton Youth Development Park.
The estimated cost is $1.4 million. Contractors are set to begin work this month or early next month. The field, roughly the size of two football fields, is expected to be done by spring 2026.
Organizers plan to have kids play baseball, softball, soccer, lacrosse, kickball and other sports at the site. Canton City Schools is building the new Lincoln Elementary School, which is expected to open by fall 2027, nearby.
“I’m so excited. I can’t wait to play soccer (on the new field). I love soccer,” said Libni Hernandez, 11, one of the kids at the center said after the ceremony. “I don’t like to get dirty.”
Marie Davis, 9, said about the new field about to be built, “It’s just like (the field at) Malone. … It’s going to be a good place.”
New field delays at J. Babe Stearn Center
In 2012, then-Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, now the governor, appeared with baseball great Cal Ripken, Jr. at the J. Babe Stearn Community Center. They announced that DeWine’s office would provide a grant to establish a Badges for Baseball program organized by the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation. This is where Canton police officers would coach and mentor kids at the center in baseball.
Haverstock said the initial budget was about $1 million. But by the time they raised the amount, the pandemic took place. As the world emerged from COVID, inflation pushed the cost over $2.2 million, beyond what the organizers had raised, delaying the project for years.
The Ripken foundation uses contractors in North Carolina and Chicago, a requirement that comes with higher costs.
But discussions with ForeverLawn Northeast Ohio brought the stalled turf field plans back to life.
“All of a sudden, we’re back in the game,” Haverstock said.
“This is a good thing for our community,” Mayor William Shearer II said at the ceremony. “We have to have things for our kids to do.”
Donors to the rescue
Several foundations contributed funds, including the Timken Foundation, which gave $300,000; the Hoover Foundation, which gave $100,000; the Deuble Foundation, which gave $100,000; the Stark Community Foundation, which gave $100,000; and the Haasz Foundation, which gave $11,000.
The late Sen. Kirk Schuring, with the support of Rep. Scott Oelslager, R-North Canton, secured about $250,000 in state capital funds. Oelslager attended the groundbreaking on Nov. 6.
Canton Council in 2022 approved a $300,000 grant using American Rescue Plan funds. Among several donors, Marathon Petroleum gave $150,000; Huntington Bank $20,000; the Pro Football’s Ultimate Fan Association/J. Babe Stearn Board $17,500 and Aultman Hospital $10,500.
Reach Robert at robert.wang@cantonrep.com.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: J. Babe Stearn Center moving closer to long-awaited synthetic turf sports field project
Reporting by Robert Wang, Canton Repository / The Repository
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