Several nonprofit sports groups are contributing materials and labor to help improve the concessions area at Doyle Field.

The work comes at a time when the city faces a revenue shortfall and the Old North State League’s Roanoke Rapids Static, a summer college baseball league, is using the facility as its home field.

The work today includes extending the old 8x14 deck at the concessions stand to 8x31, said Joey Elias, a Roanoke Rapids Youth Baseball Association (RRYBA) member. The second phase of the project will make the deck ADA-compliant. “Obviously, it was very old and not safe anymore, so we needed to replace it.”

The plans also include building an elevated railing with a bar top so that when people get their concessions, they can sit, watch the game, and eat.

The first phase is expected to be completed by Sunday for the Static’s home game that evening. The ADA phase will begin after this weekend.

The project is a collaborative effort involving the Static and the team’s manager, Jacob Dixon. It also includes Roanoke Rapids Midget Football, Roanoke Rapids High School, and the Roanoke Rapids Sports Club, as well as the RRYBA and the Roanoke Rapids Parks and Recreation Department.

“It’s first and foremost a safety concern,” Elias said. “But we’re also killing two birds with one stone. We are going to address the safety concern, improve it, and make it larger.”

The concessions stand has become a popular place to congregate during games, he noted. “They like to sit up here, so we’re going to embrace that—make it bigger to have enough room for people, and also give them a place to put their food and drinks to make it a little more inviting.”

The city’s contribution is $500, Elias said. The materials for the first phase are estimated at $3,500, and the ADA phase will be about $1,100. As far as cost savings to the city, he said, “A good rule of thumb when I was in construction is you double that [material cost] and that’s your total cost, but in today’s market, everything is just so much more expensive. I would say this portion would be about $10,000 if you were to hire a contractor.”

Regarding what the work means for the organizations involved, Elias said, “We’re proud to be from Roanoke Rapids. Everyone uses this. Everyone has a stake in it. Everyone recognized the need, and when the time comes, everyone’s willing to step up.”

“It was something that was needed, and we saw a need for it,” said Thomas Goble, RRYBA president, who also serves as the city’s parks and recreation superintendent. “People like Scott Hall took the lead on this and we were able to buy the supplies. Parks and Rec ripped this up for us, and we’re all donating time to put it back in. It’ll be twice the size. It’ll be nicer. The old one was really slippery.”

Goble said The cooperation behind the project aligns with what Parks and Recreation Director Kelly Daughtry said during Thursday's budget work session, that, "Stuff’s not going to get accomplished if we just wait on somebody or wait on a favorable budget season.”

The work shows how the department has to get creative during a projected lean budget year “to keep improving parks and recreation and keep improving our facilities,” Goble said.

The department has used some of the rental money from the Static to get more dirt for the infield, he added. “If you come out here when it rains, that right side is just like a lake. With the Static out here, we were able to get several more loads coming on Wednesday.”

Hall said, “I was born and raised basically here in this city and I love this area. That’s why I never left. If we don’t work together, it’s hard to accomplish things, especially when you’re working with nonprofits, and being in a Tier 1 county is tough.”

He began reaching out to people to help with the project. “As a group, we came up with the funding within 30 to 45 minutes.”

That group also included Servpro. “It was really a quick afternoon of phone calls. We couldn’t do these things without it,” he said.