Prolonged winter temperatures and snow accumulation may delay the opening of the City of Penticton’s sports fields.
Baseball, slo-pitch, soccer and rugby fields that typically open on April 1 may not be safe for use.
“Spring maintenance includes rototilling infield shale on baseball fields, leveling the infield shale, ensuring that the baseball base anchors are intact, paint lining, tarping soccer goal mouths, removing leaves, raking the turfgrass, and inspecting lights, fences and bleachers,” said parks supervisor Todd Whyte in a news release. “Although April 1 remains our target for opening the fields, due to the current ground conditions and weather we will not be able to perform the required maintenance tasks until the fields are dry enough for us to put staff and equipment on the sporting grounds.”
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Factors that determine when a playing field can be safely opened include: the amount of precipitation that has occurred, the presence of standing water on the field, snow or ice cover, drainage capabilities of the field/site, is the field SAFE to play on, what kind and how much damage could occur if the fields were to remain open for the event and the time of year and the cumulative amount of stress on the field.
“We will send out another notice Monday, March 25 to let users know if the fields will be safe for play on April 1. We thank users for their patience while we wait for Mother Nature to usher in spring weather,” said Whyte.
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