Overhead rendering of the Old Settlers Park Sports Complex.

Sports Complex Improvement Blog

The Round Rock City Council appoved the issuance of $12.5 million in certificates of obligation in July 2007 to help fund $18.9 million of improvements to Old Settlers Park.

Plans include major improvements to the ball fields, dugouts and spectator areas of the existing 20-field youth baseball and softball complexes, as well as the construction of new practice areas. We also plan to build a new 5-field complex for girls’ softball complete with concession, hitting area and covered seating. See a computer-rendered video of the complex (no audio included).

Construction schedule
The T-ball fields (Fields 1-4), and southwest fields (Fields 9-10) of the baseball complex are complete as of July 2008.  On July 21, the entire baseball and softball complex will close to allow for Phase II of construction which includes restroom facilities and concessions throughout the complex. The closure is to ensure safety of park users. The new girls softball complex opened on November 8, 2008. The baseball complex is expected to be complete in February for Spring 2009.

Other park improvements include additional parking at Rock’N River Family Aquatic Center and a rest room/pro shop building at the tennis courts.

Our mission is to maximize the benefits of the sports complex at Old Settlers Park to the community, primarily the youth of Round Rock, and recover a reasonable portion of the City’s maintenance costs.

Digital rendering of the northwest softball fields at Old Settlers Park.

We are in the process of reviewing several opportunities to create a better experience for all of our users of these facilities.

Here are some of our thoughts on the key issues of the project:

Mandate for cost recovery through user fees
Increasing the level of maintenance at the fields is a significant part of the project. Infields will be rebuilt on some fields and irrigation installed. The increased maintenance – which will make the fields more playable, safer and more attractive – means increased costs for the City. So the City is going to require that youth leagues and their participants begin to cover a portion of the ongoing maintenance costs.

Currently, the leagues only reimburse the City its costs for lighting the fields and the marble dust used to stripe the fields.

As a result of that input, the Round Rock City Council began to look at increasing user fees to cover maintenance and operations expenses. The goal for ball field maintenance is to recover 25 percent of our operating costs. For more on fees and operational issues, click here.

Field fatigue
Another issue is the overuse of the ball fields for practices, league play and tournaments. Proper maintenance necessitates that each field get a rest time. Current field capacity is maximized with up to 57 hours of play per week per field. We have found that reducing field time will enhance the playability. Our research shows that fields perform better in a range of 18-30 hours a week per field to allow for improved maintenance and adequate recovery.

To provide relief to the playing fields at Old Settlers Park, the City is working with the Round Rock ISD to create multi-purpose practice complexes. The practice areas would be lighted and possibly irrigated, and will provide enough space for four baseball/softball practices, or six soccer practices, or four football practices.

Scheduling of fields
The City has allowed the youth baseball and softball leagues – Round Rock Youth Baseball, Old Settlers Express Baseball and Sertoma Girls Softball – to have de facto “ownership” of the various ball field complexes within the park. That has created maintenance and scheduling problems. Even though the three leagues aren’t in competition with each, the “ownership” issue has prevented proper allocation of the facilities for games. Some comments we have heard are late games for youth that end after 10 p.m., multiple game nights, compressed schedules, lack of practice time and field damage.

The City Council has given the staff a mandate to resolve this issue so the community can achieve the highest possible benefit of these public facilities. This is an area where we need input from the leagues and parents to develop a solution to this scheduling problem.

Sports Capital of Texas competition
We’ve also heard the complaint that tournaments the City has recruited through its Sports Capital of Texas tourism campaign are taking away field time from local kids. It is true that one weekend per month is reserved for these Sports Capital of Texas tournaments. Another weekend per month is reserved for league-sponsored tournaments.

The tournaments that draw teams from out of town provide a significant economic benefit to the community. The Sports Capital of Texas tourism campaign is an important component of the City’s overall economic development program.

For example, a tournament the weekend of May 11 that drew 113 teams had an economic impact of nearly $600,000 on the local economy.

We believe local league play and Sports Capital of Texas tournaments can co-exist and even be mutually beneficial. This is another area where we need input from leagues and parents on how to best maximize the benefit of these fields for the entire community.