By Bill Howard

Last Thursday night at 7 o'clock brought a momentous step forward for kids in East Knoxville wanting to play baseball and softball.

At that time, the City of Knoxville had a ceremony for the re-opening of Claude Walker Ballpark, located at 2945 Wilson Ave. The field where the ceremony was held is one of two baseball/softball fields, and will be used by Little League teams in the area, Austin-East High School's softball team, and various other teams.

Renovations went far beyond the ball field itself and included the concession stand, restrooms, dugouts, and batting cages, among other amenities. The artificial turf on the entire field – almost Disney-esque in its colors and texture – was in stark contrast to what the lot looked like before renovation began.

The seeds for the project were planted about a year ago, according to Sanford Miller, Director of Sports Ministry and FCA Urban Outreach at Emerald Youth Foundation. As with most any such project, input and support came from numerous sources, one of whom was UTK President Randy Boyd, who was in attendance.

"A year ago this field was dirt, grass with dirt spots in it, and the dugouts were run down," said Miller. "It was a meeting with me and Randy Boyd and his team, and we were just trying to figure out how do we bring back baseball to the city of Knoxville. Randy had a vision. Kaylin Chesney and I explained what we really needed was great fields for our kids to play on."

Boyd's GEM Community Development Group – formed to build the proposed downtown baseball field for the Tennessee Smokies – funded the project with a gift of approximately $1.6 million, $1.1 million of which went to construction. The rest is allocated for operations support

A major player in the project, according to Boyd, was Knox Area Youth Alliance Commissioner William Anderson, who has managed Claude Walker Park for many years.

"About a year ago we came to this field when it was nothing like this," said Boyd. "Willie Anderson shared his vision. When you heard his passion for what this could be, we were convinced before but really committed afterward."

Both parts of the investment will be managed by Emerald Youth, but the park will remain a city park.

Chesney is East/South Director of Area Ministries for Emerald Youth Foundation. He oversees all program operations for those parts of the city. He also coaches Austin-East High School's baseball team, which resumed this year after many years off.

"It's amazing that the kids now get an opportunity to play in a complex like this," Chesney said. You don't typically see this for Little League baseball. No grass, no dirt, all turf."

Claude Walker was a longtime supervisor in the City's Parks & Recreation Department. Very palpable at the ceremony among the hundreds in attendance was a feeling of community cohesion and unity.

"This is the power of partnerships," said City of Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon. "Sports is something that brings people together. You're here as a kid and you feel like 'this community cares about me. I matter.' That's what I'm so proud of."

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