LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Community leaders are working to improve Lannan Park in Louisville’s Portland neighborhood after years of challenges for the Portland Youth League. The upgrades are expected to be finished before the spring season.
The work includes cleaning out dugouts, fixing lights, improving bleachers, redoing dugouts and upgrading fencing for T-ball fields, according to league leaders and supporters. The goal is to give children a safe place to play baseball next season.
Joey Hightower, president of the Portland Youth League, has been involved with the league since he was a child, first as a player and now as its leader.
“Really, it’s a labor of love,” Hightower said. “I knew what it meant to me as a kid, and so I really want kids in the neighborhood to experience the same things that I did.”
The league has been based in the Portland neighborhood since 1983, but Hightower said maintaining safe and playable fields has become difficult in recent years.
“Back in the early spring as we began to kind of ramp up for games and practices, our dugouts and fields were basically being overrun by homeless,” Hightower said. “And so, they left debris, needles, other kind of unsanitary things in the dugouts. So, we just put out a need, like, hey, you know, we don’t want to be the forgotten park in the city.”
Mike Mulrooney, founder of Shirley’s Way, responded to that request for help.
“Yeah, we’re looking at some bleachers, redoing the dugouts, the fencing for the T-ball fields,” Mulrooney said. “We got them a brand-new side-by-side refrigerator for their concession stand. They didn’t have a way to keep drinks cold. So now they have that. We’re going to get them an ice machine, and anything the Little League needs, we’re going to try and help them to really make springtime next year, make this a fabulous place to play ball.”
Mulrooney said the improvements are part of a broader effort to support families and increase participation next season.
“We’re looking to have this park ready to rock and roll by the springtime, and we’re actually going to sponsor about the first 100 to 150 kids to get them signed up to play in the spring, because these kids really need something to do,” Mulrooney said. “And sports is a great way to build confidence, get them out of the house, get exercise, and we’re looking forward to being able to see how many kids we can have sign up in the springtime to play on these new fields.”
Hightower said the larger goal is to keep the park as a gathering place for Portland families.
“This park and this league are really a diamond to this community,” Hightower said. “There’s so much support. People have watched their kids and grandkids play here. And what we really want to do is just create a safe place and a place that really the Portland community can be proud of.”
League leaders said the improvements should be finished in time for the spring season. About 130 children are already signed up to play.