By Terry Schrimscher
IRONDALE — The Irondale City Council approved major upgrades to Ruffner Baseball Park, Tuesday night January 23. The often contentious meeting, originally scheduled for January 16 but moved due to weather, lasted almost three hours.
Upgrades to the park have been in discussion since Mayor James D. Stewart Jr. took office in 2020. The Council approved a resolution in August of 2022 to enter into contract with Goodwyn Mills Cawood for professional design services.
During the Tuesday night meeting, the Council approved Resolution 2024-R-17 to enter into a $7,482,560 contract with Milam and Co. LLC for the construction upgrades to the park. The Council also approved a new $150,000 contract with Goodwyn Mills Cawood to project manage the redevelopment for the city and $ 518,500 for design services.
The park upgrades will include three synthetic turf baseball / softball fields, new restrooms, a new press box and concession stands, a new playground, walking paths, parking lot, picnic pavilions and new lighting for the ball fields.
The Council also approved Resolution 2024-R-18 to spend $558,059 for the purchase of artificial turf from Field Turf USA, Inc. and Resolution 2024-R-19 to spend $395,800 for lighting from Musco Sports Lighting LLC. Additionally, the Council approved Resolution 2024-R-20 for the purchase of playground equipment from Great Southern Recreation in an amount not to exceed $350,000.
The measures passed but not without dissenting votes from Councilmember Cuellar, who asked for each resolution to be moved from the consent agenda to the regular agenda due to her concerns with budgets and financing for the projects.
Speaking to the Tribune after the meeting, Stewart stressed the importance of the park upgrades.
“We are creating generational projects that will allow the community to enjoy Ruffner Park for a lifetime,” Stewart said. “Ruffner Park will not only benefit our younger families but also become an economic engine for the City of Irondale,” he added.
In other business, a motion to reduce the city’s occupational tax to 0.5% of gross revenues was defeated. In the public comments, business owners expressed frustration over the ongoing tax.
The next meeting of the Irondale City Council will be held at 6 p.m. on February 6 at Irondale City Hall. An agenda for the meeting can be found on the Irondale website prior to the meeting.