Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties

Massie Field restoration project under way

By IAN MINIELLY

[email protected]

Bessemer - At Monday's school board meeting in Bessemer, superintendent Dave Radovich publicly thanked Dick Matrella for taking the bull by the horns and getting people motivated to restore Massie Field to its past glory. Matrella said they had unscrewed an untold number of screws to remove planks in the grandstands and were going to need help installing the new wood and screwing all those screws in.

While Matrella, Bob Berg, Dave Turala, Eric Stanislawski, and Jay Saari have pulled all the old bleacher seats and replaced them with new wood already, volunteers are still needed. Matrella asked on Monday that volunteers come Friday and Saturday at 7 a.m., and if possible, that volunteers bring their own tools.

The old dirt on the baseball field is being removed with new clay from Minnesota to replace it. The new clay, according to Matrella on Monday, is top notch infield material that will enable the field to be ready for play next year and in better condition than it has been in years. The lip that forms on fields where the dirt and the grass meet is also being removed as Matrella has pointed out it has become a significant hazard for the players at this point.

Massie Field is also receiving a fresh coat of paint on the buildings this summer.