Will the crack of the bat be heard year-round in Atherton’s Holbrook-Palmer Park?
Under an eight-year-old agreement with the town, Menlo-Atherton Little League officials have had to remove the backstop at the end of the season in July, to discourage rowdy adult groups from playing ball at the park and to restore the field’s open space appearance for half the year.
Despite the objections of member of the Atherton Park and Recreation Committee and the Holbrook-Palmer Park Foundation, the Atherton City Council voted to allow the league’s backstop to remain up all year, on a trial basis. The vote was 4-1, with Kathy McKeithen opposed, at the Sept. 19 council meeting.
In exchange, Little League will have to take out a larger insurance policy and assume the liability for any accidents or misuse of the backstop.
Holbrook-Palmer has never been a typical municipal park geared toward children, and past attempts to open it up to youth sports have usually met with stiff resistance.
“Don’t we have enough in the park for children?” asked Park and Recreation Commissioner Shirley Carlson. “We have the preschool, a playground, Easter and Christmas (events). There’s plenty for children. Could we not leave something for the adults in this community?”
Leaving the backstop in place turns a temporary ballfield into a permanent baseball field, depriving other park visitors of using the area, Ms. Carlson said.
M-A Little League officials argued that the backstop was getting damaged as a result of the annual deconstruction and reconstruction, and that it was an added expense that a nonprofit organization could do without. Boys and girls should be able to go there to practice baseball in the off-season or have pick-up games with friends and family, they said.
“Our family and many, many families support retaining the backstop,” said Atherton resident Michelle Dollinger, who spearheaded the campaign to rebuild the children’s playground at Holbrook-Palmer Park. “Not just because of the cost, but because it’s providing an area for children.”
In all, six people spoke against leaving up the backstop and eight spoke in favor of it. While some people complained that the backstop is ugly, Councilman Charles Marsala said it improves the look of the park, since it partially blocks views of the rusting fences around the tennis courts.
Tension over use
A 22-acre former estate, Holbrook-Palmer is Atherton’s only park. Besides fields and walking paths, it holds tennis courts, several historic buildings, and a pavilion that is rented out for weddings and events.
Over the years, as more families with young children moved into Atherton, there’s been increasing tension over the use of the park. In 2002, Atherton families raised money and replaced the park’s aging play structures with a much larger landscaped playground.
Construction of the Little League field came after multiple attempts to get the town to provide space for youth sports at the park. It was the subject of intense public debate and its use is governed by a restrictive 10-year contract. The M-A Little League paid for the field’s construction and reimburses the town for its maintenance.
Councilwoman McKeithen said that Little League should honor its contract since the expense of removing the backstop is minimal.
“I’m the only member who was on the council when this was approved,” said Mayor Alan Carlson. “There was a lot of resistance to having kids at the park.”
Mr. Carlson said one of his proudest accomplishments was helping broker the compromise that allowed the field to get built.
