Bakersfield ball fields to relocate after repeated damage at creek

After much discussion, it’s been decided that Pride Park and the Bakersfield baseball and softball fields will be moved to a new location on O Highway, about a half mile north of the school.

The relocation comes after school board members approved a land swap involving the 20-acre longtime Pride Park location, which sits in a low-lying spot along the Bennett’s Bayou creek in town, with a new 32-acre property on O Highway owned by local residents Chris and Lacee Bales. 

Bakersfield Superintendent Amy Padgett told the Times that the decision to move the fields came in response to discussions with the school’s insurance company involving the ball field’s location and repeated flooding it has sustained due to the creek channel changing after the 2017 flood. 

Padgett said it was that year, 2017, that the school first had a catastrophic insurance claim at the ball fields, in what was then called a “1,000-year flood.” Fences were ripped out, roads damaged and the fields were left a muddy mess. 

To help prevent further damage to the fields, the school built a berm up in the vegetation along the creek among several large, mature trees. “Some of those trees were estimated to be almost 200 years old. They were really old, and they had deep roots. So we built the berm up in that area, utilizing those old trees and their root systems,” Padgett said. 

After that flood, the creek channel at Bennett’s Bayou, which runs alongside the park, also changed significantly. “And it flooded on our side of the creek way more often than it used to,” Padgett said. 

Still, the berm system had been successful in helping mitigate damage at the fields during high water events over the last eight years, but when a massive tornado tore through Bakersfield on March 14, it left a nearly 3/4-mile wide path of destruction in its wake. Along with the dozens of homes and buildings it destroyed, thousands of trees were ripped from the earth. Among the trees that were pulled up were the large ones in the berm at Pride Park. 

The community came together and worked hard to begin cleaning the property up, but a month after the tornado, a massive flood brought Bennett’s Bayou back up, drowning the fields and causing further damage. A month later, it happened again. 

Padgett says the school is part of a self-insured group that includes most school districts and colleges in Missouri, and Bakersfield school officials have been working with insurance adjusters to finalize claims for the tornado and both floods this year.

“The insurance company was obviously concerned about the fields flooding again and the large claims that location poses, being in a floodplain,” she said. “We had mitigated those concerns with the berm. But now the berm’s gone.”

The insurance company encouraged the school to relocate the fields by explaining that it would pay out the maximum amount allowed on the claims if the fields were moved. Alternatively, if they kept the fields in the same location, it would only pay out the required limits (which was remarkably less). Padgett said if the school kept the fields in the same location, in addition to receiving a much lower insurance payout, the renewal fee would also skyrocket, which would put a pretty big strain on the district budget. 

She said pricing insurance on the public market was not an option because most public insurers won’t even look at properties in a floodplain.

After having those conversations with the insurance company, the school began looking at alternative locations where the fields could be reestablished. 

“We talked to some folks in town who had areas near the school, and ultimately we had a taker, Chris and Lacee Bales, who have some land less than a mile from school that would be suitable,” Padgett said. “We had to find somewhere that was away from water, on higher ground but also had relatively flat topography.”

Padgett said the land swap is “straight across and as is,” so the school will not be responsible for cleaning up the damaged fields in town; however, part of the agreement was that the Bales family will clean the property up so it isn’t a public eyesore - something they happily agreed to because they also want the space to remain a functional part of the community. 

Chris Bales told the Times that he plans to keep what remains of the walking trail open to the public, as it always has been. He said he plans to fix the fields, put up new fencing and use the sports complex for summer league ball games, as well as adult softball leagues starting next summer.

As for the school’s plans, Padgett says it is still working out details of the project, many of which can’t be decided until the insurance claim is finalized. “We would love to have a firm number from the insurance company by the end of the month, so we can start planning and get some drawings done and work with our committee to develop a plan.”

Padgett says the school has formed a committee, which includes school board members, baseball and softball coaches, local engineer Mike Scott and others, to develop the plans for the new fields as a group.

Although the decision was made to move the fields, Padgett said it was not something the school took lightly. 

“The board really struggled with this decision,” she said. “We love the town, and we know the value of that location right in town. But our first obligation is to provide a safe, insurable facility for our students. Moving to higher ground is the best and most financially responsible way to do that.”

While the school’s field location may change next year, there’s no doubt it will continue to serve as the backdrop for many ballpark memories where kids pour their hearts and souls onto the fields while their families proudly cheer from the bleachers. And with the Bales’ plans of restoring the old fields in town, Bakersfield families will have the best of both worlds: a modern, resilient complex for school sports, and a beloved park preserved for summer nights, teamwork and the joy of the game.