By KEVIN BERGER, Local Journalism Initiative
The Martensville Slo-Pitch Committee has requested the City of Martensville to chip in $150,000 in 2026 towards the installation of new lighting at the ball diamond on the southeast corner of Kinsmen Park, which may also aid in the group’s bid to host the 2027 Slo-Pitch Nationals.
Doug O’Hara and Mike Anweiler of the Martensville Slo-Pitch Committee presented the request to council during the November 10 committee of the whole meeting.
Incidentally, they also requested the city contribute $25,000 to $50,000 on an annual basis towards installing lighting at the southwest ball diamond in Kinsmen Park, which will be done in several years.
O’Hara said the Martensville Slo-Pitch Committee has been running for more than 30 years and is currently at near or total capacity, with at least some teams waiting to join.
He said the local ball diamonds have been booked up with slo-pitch games for 95 per cent of the weekends in the spring and summer for the past few years, with some teams even running into the fall. (According to the Martensville Slo-Pitch League’s Facebook page, their season runs from May until the end of August.)
Over the past 30 years, the committee has invested approximately $750,000 into the grounds and facilities, and they will continue to do so, O’Hara noted.
He said the committee has been fundraising for the past five years to install a state-of-the-art MUSCO Lighting System at Diamonds C (southeast) and D (southwest).
“This will allow for larger tournaments with more out-of-town teams,” said O’Hara, adding that the new lighting system allows for easier-to-track balls.
Hosting bigger tournaments means bringing more people to town and more business for local restaurants, hotels, campgrounds, gas stations and liquor stores, he noted.
According to a brochure provided to council by the slo-pitch committee, the MUSCO Lighting system also minimizes light polution in contrast to typical HID or LED floodlighting.
The bigger project will be installing lighting at the southeast diamond, as they will have to upgrade the power service at that location.
As such, the estimated cost for this project is $300,000, meaning the city’s contribution would be roughly half of the price tag. The remainder will come from the committee’s fundraising efforts.
Installing the lighting at the southwest diamond will be cheaper because there is already power there, but it will still cost $250,000.
However, O’Hara indicated the committee does not expect lighting to be installed at the second diamond for a while, as it will take at least a few years to fundraise the cash. That is why they asked the city to set aside $25,000 to $50,000 in the years following 2026 to eventually fund their contribution.
Having lighting installed at the southeast diamond will also help the committee’s bid to host the 2027 Slo-Pitch National Championships.
Anweiler clarified that Martensville is not guaranteed to get the nationals and they will be making the bid regardless of whether or not the lighting is installed before 2027.
Councillor Spencer Nikkel asked if the committee had any discussion around increased operating costs from the new lighting system.
O’Hara said, “We have been discussing that, and we haven’t really thought that would be that big of an issue, since we are the ones who have to pay for the power bill anyways.”