MOOSE JAW — Now that Homestand ’24 has concluded, River Street promotions (RSP) — the organization that holds the annual fundraiser concert — officially wrapped up its fourth year by presenting cheques to both school divisions and the board that manages Ross Wells Park where the annual concert is held.
On Oct. 9, representatives of the park received a generous cheque in the amount of $20,000.
“Homestand has now turned out to be the biggest fundraiser that we have for Ross Wells Ballpark,” announced Roger Bastedo, a board member for the park. “It allowed us to do all of the infrastructure improvements that we’re able to do this year.
Contractors are now upgrading the park’s lighting to an all LED system which will both lower the electrical bill and ensures better visibility during ball games. The new system also gives park managers more control over illumination in the field.
Ross Wells Park was built in the ‘50s after a previous site was annexed by the city to expand the exposition grounds at the time. Today the park continues to host midget baseball teams, the Midget Men’s Baseball League, and is the home of the Moose Jaw Miller Express baseball team.
The ballpark is also home to the annual Homestand concert that raises money for both school divisions to have access to a mental health and wellness fund and part of these proceeds are reinvested in the stadium as a return of thanks.
The partnership between RSP and the Ross Wells Park began four years ago when James Murdock — one of the founding members of RSP — approached the park’s board asking if it would be possible to hold an outdoor concert at the ballpark.
“We were thrilled with the idea because usually in September the ballpark is all shut down and we’re not really doing anything there at that point in time,” Bastedo said. “So what a great use (of the venue) for citizens to be able to get into that ballpark and take a look at it.”
Bastedo said many people haven’t seen inside the park and he’s happy that the Homestand initiative can help more residents discover it for themselves.
“It truly is a grand ballpark,” he said. “When people come from Calgary or Edmonton, they’re amazed at what a beautiful ballpark we actually have.”
In the near future Bastedo is hoping to see some bathroom upgrades at the park. “The washrooms… are not in great condition,” he said. “They’re quite old and built in, I believe, 1958… those washrooms haven’t kept up.”
He said the park doesn’t yet have wheelchair accessible washrooms and that’s another focal point for the proposed project.
Without the generous support from RSP and Homestand, the park would have to rely on funding by increasing rental fees and from the teams who now play there.
“It would be just so cost restrictive to a midget baseball team of 15- and 16-year-olds to be trying to take on that extra burden to help us with these sorts of improvements,” he said.
“In the absence of Homestand, we just wouldn’t have been able to do some of those major things that we’re doing and we would have just had to continue with the status quo and do our best to get by…,” he said. It’s not guaranteed that the park would have to close, but with deteriorating conditions the board would be hard pressed to find funding options to keep the venue functional.
“Every year that they’ve (RSP) given us a generous donation… to make improvements — whether it’s the bleachers (or) the lighting systems — we couldn’t do those improvements without the support of Homestand,” Bastedo said. “And (Homestand) is just such a great event to have for the City of Moose Jaw… (and it) gets everyone together in beautiful weather. (All of the) organizers are such a pleasure to deal with.
“Thank you for everything (you) do to help us continue to make improvements to our ballpark.”
Ross Wells Park is located at the intersection of Caribou Street East and Ross Crescent.
To learn more about the work done by River Street Promotions, visit RiverStreetPromotions.com.
