Town to dedicate new ball park at Libby Field, Oct. 5th

Libby Field is a 6.4-acre ball park located off Middle Street, opposite the Abigail Adams Middle School and Veterans’ Memorial Wall. Between 2017 and 2018, the park underwent approximately $3 million in renovations to develop the Town’s first artificial-turf baseball diamond, enhance recreational opportunities for local youth and high school baseball teams, and support beautification of the Town’s Civic Center Historic District. Mayor Hedlund will unveil a new plaque at the upcoming dedication event to honor the park’s namesake, Dr. J. Herbert Libby, as well as celebrate the field’s transformation into one of the region’s premier baseball facilities.    

The new Libby Field features a standard-size, artificial-turf baseball diamond with 90-foot base paths, a 60-foot pitching distance, and up to 395 feet between home plate and the outfield fence. Additional ball field amenities include team bullpens and sheltered dugouts, a digital scoreboard, an LED sports lighting system for evening games, a pair of bleachers with five rows of seating per stand, and a batter’s eye, or sight screen, located in center field that allows batters to see the pitched ball and alleviates sun glare.

Additional improvements at Libby Field include a perimeter walking path, a handicapped-accessible entrance off Chard Street, and 460 linear feet of streetscaping along Middle Street, including sidewalk extensions, granite seating blocks, and spectator railings.  

Renovations at Libby Field were completed as part of a $11.4 million capital investment by the Town to improve more than a dozen playing fields and other recreational facilities throughout the community. These projects were spearheaded by Mayor Hedlund, with unanimous support from the Town Council, and were financed without the need for a debt exclusion or tax override.