The Buckeye Main Street Coalition along with the Buckeye Parks and Rec Department are celebrating the installation and completion of new restrooms and a new concession stand at the Earl Edger Memorial Recreation Complex on South Miller Road. The new facility replaces a building many believe may have been built in the 1930’s to serve the Buckeye little league fields and rec complex. This new structure also sits next to and serves the newly created Craig Counsel Field that was opened for use last baseball season.

Dave Showen the Buckeye Recreation Manager told us that the building came in two sections on large trucks and was put into place with a very large crane. “The Public Works Department came in and demolished part of the old building, they then laid a new cement pad and hoisted the building sections into place with the crane that could lift up to 14,000 pounds.”

The section of the building containing the restrooms weighed in around 9,500 pounds and the section with the concession stand, a bit smaller, weighed in around 8,000 pounds.

Showen said that the old facilities were in such disrepair that these new facilities were very needed to keep the ball fields viable for little league and Town recreation services. He also said that there are plans for a second ball field, very similar to Counsel Field and a new handicapped accessible walk way from the newly repaved parking lot on the South end of the complex. Showen has also learned that once the new ball field is in place and operational, Buckeye will be reviewed as a possible host site for the Arizona Little League State Competition.

The Buckeye Main Street Coalition supported this project because of the hundreds of potential downtown business clients that the complex brings into downtown Buckeye during the year. Partnerships like this help grow our community and make Buckeye a true destination in the West Valley and the State of Arizona. The total cost of the project was around $245,000 and was paid for, with Town Council approval, out of the Downtown Redevelopment Fund.

In other downtown news, Memphis Best BBQ continues to move toward their opening. Darryl says that if things move along as planned, in about two weeks from the publication of this article we could all be enjoying some true Memphis BBQ right here in downtown Buckeye. We welcome Memphis Best BBQ to the downtown family!

The Main Street Coalition is working to rebuild our membership numbers. We have been advised by the Town Manager that we are to be the chief advocates for the downtown area of Buckeye. We want to become the voice of the downtown businesses as well as the information heart of downtown. We want to do more group advertising and ultimately more events that draw people into the downtown businesses. We will also be the organization that can help you get things done, be it a small paint job or a large property redevelopment. Main Street will help be your guide as you move through the development process.

If I haven’t already, I’ll be coming to your business very soon to get you involved in the downtown and the Coalition. Individual or family partnerships are also allowed by the Coalition if you have an interest in improving downtown Buckeye. For information about joining the Coalition or renewing your partnership if you are already a member, call me at 623-386-0526 and I will schedule a time to come and talk with you about benefits of joining the Buckeye Main Street Coalition. You can also see us at www.buckeyemainstreet.org