If you’ve been to the Airport Heights Park recently, you may have noticed some of the playground equipment has received a fresh coat of paint. Airport maintenance crews and volunteer organizations have been working on improvements to the park that is located inside the boundary of the Coos County Airport District. Most recently, maintenance workers added lines and painted backboards and rims in the enclosed basketball court. CCAD Maintenance employee Jon Wilson and project contractor Rick Skinner painted the vintage metal playground toys. CCAD has an agreement with the Coos Bay North Bend Rotary to create and implement a park master plan. The second meeting with three original designs has been scheduled for September 5, 2024 from 6 pm to 8 pm.
Other park improvements included work by volunteers of the North Bend Independent Youth Baseball program to extend therookie baseball field fence. The existing fence on the south field was at approximately 120’ and there was no fence on the north field. Volunteer and Park Steering Committee member, Tim Huntley says typical regulation Rookies outfield fences range from 140’ to 160’. NBIBP invested $3000 dollars to extend the fencing to 150 feet and added a fence to the second field. About 100 hours of volunteer labor was used. The work was done in time for the Ian Spaulding tournament. 27 teams played in the tournament, eight of them at Airport Heights. The tournament raises money for scholarships.
The North Bend Independent Youth Baseball Program provides all youth, ages four to 12, an opportunity to play baseball regardless of skill level. Players learn and grow from t-ball through majors. The program is part of the South coast Cal Ripken league and has around 200.
Lastly, dog waste stations were added at the playground and Baseball Field. It is a reminder if you take your pet into the park, please be sure to clean up after it. And with the new stations, it is easy to do and easy to discard.
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