Apr 24, 2024 By Paul Paterra 3 min read

Washington School Directors voted to rescind an agreement with the city of Washington to renovate the Colt League baseball field at Washington Park.

The 8-1 vote passed Monday, with School Director Amy Roberts casting the lone dissenting vote.

“We could theoretically break ground here in a week or two, and once we break ground we’re locked in,” said George Lammay, superintendent of the Washington School District. “(The city) didn’t formally approve it on their end. I told the board that I didn’t think it was a wise decision to go forward unless we have something approved that would bind it. The board agreed so we rescinded the motion.”

The district and the city had an informal agreement in August to join forces on a turf field to be used for baseball and softball for school district and youth teams. Colt Field is maintained by the city.

In August, Lammay said the work would cost about $2 million.

“We put a lot of effort into this,” Lammay said. “Last summer, we did a lot of back and forth negotiating through our attorneys. In August, I really believed council was comfortable with what we discussed from their solicitor. That’s why we did what we did.”

Mayor JoJo Burgess called the board’s action “disheartening.”

“We were trying to give them every opportunity to build their field,” Burgess said. “While we were doing all of the property requirements for grants that we had, we found some discrepancies that needed to be corrected. They think we’re stalling them out, trying to do something. We have no reason to do that. Everything’s above board. The way they did this kind of soured my taste for doing business with them. We’re going to still fix the property issue with or without them. We haven’t even seen the plans and we were trying to be accommodating.”

Lammay did say the board can reengage with the city if it chooses to do so.

The superintendent further explained that the district needs to focus on necessary work on the 90-year old high school building.

“Some of the bricks are falling off and we’re concerned about that,” Lammay said. “That’s going to be a demanding project. We had really hoped to have this baseball field in place by now. I don’t think we can continue to pursue other things while we’re looking at (the high school).”

In recent years, Little Prexies home baseball games have been played at Wild Things Park, while the softball team plays its home games at a field in South Strabane Township. The district was looking to have its own facility for the teams to be able to practice.

“We have to secure a place for our baseball team to practice,” Lammay said. “That Colt Field is wet. … It really needs some work. We were willing to do that, (but) I needed to recommend what I did.”