T-L Photo/ROBERT A. DEFRANK St. Clairsville recreation Director Eric Gay is looking forward to improvements to the junior sports field, thanks to help from Pittsburgh Pirates Charities.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Youth sports is looking forward to some upgrades, thanks to a jumpstart from Pittsburgh Pirates Charities.

St. Clairsville Councilwoman Kristi Lipscomb, also on the recreation committee for the city, commented last week.

“The Pittsburgh Pirates Charities donated $11,000, which will be used for one of the junior sports baseball/softball fields for improvements,” she said. “It is very nice to have that, and really all the credit goes to Eric Gay, who is the rec center director. He is very good at working as a liaison, reaching out to businesses and corporations to get donations to help fund these improvements. We’re lucky to have him.”

Gay said the project will be a welcome one.

“There’s one of the fields that needs some serious work down there, and that’s going to go with helping us with the infield, some drainage issues,” he said. “Their organization is going to get involved with us around here, tickets for the kid to go see some games, and different opportunities for parents to take them.”

He added that a cost for the work has not been determined, but $11,000 is a good start.

“We’re probably going to be looking somewhere around $25,000 in total in between that grant, the junior sports organization and St. Clairsville schools. We’re hoping that we can get that done and give the kids a facility that they deserve. They put a ton of time in perfecting their craft, and we want to make sure that we have the facilities up to par for them.”

He said work on the fields should begin soon.

“We’re hoping to start this spring with it. Once the weather breaks, we’re going to need to put some french drains in to divert some of the water from getting on the field. We’d like to resurface the infield and we’re not done with it. We’re looking for different ways to keep upgrading everything,” Gay said.

He also commended the local volunteers.

“They put so much time in there,” he said. “We in the recreation department and the city want to make sure we help out as much as we can too.”

This comes after Gulfport Energy made a donation of $7,500 for new and improved lighting on the amphitheater stage.

“We’re just trying to build up the facilities around here. St. Clairsville’s such a great place to live. We just want to continue to build and move in the right direction and keep giving adults, kids, whoever, the best things we can possibly offer. That’s important to me, to just keep building toward the future.”

Gay said the city aims to offer a full range of activities to attract residents and he is always looking to improvements.

“We are so thankful for all of the sponsorships that we get. Some of the local banks do so much for us, the local businesses, the outpouring of support for this department has just been fantastic. We just feel like the facilities and the things that we can offer is just what makes towns appealing, and we want to continue to do that. When people are looking to move or where they want to raise their kids, we just want to have everything that we need in place.”