Baseball fields spared in proposed new Reid Park upgrade plan

Baseball lovers are back in the game at Reid Park in the final version of a proposed new plan to guide future spending on park upgrades.

Bird watchers, bicyclists, concertgoers and splash pad fans also will find things to like in the final draft of a new park master plan, recently unveiled for a final round of public comment before a City Council decision early next year.

Tucsonans have until Dec. 19 to weigh in on proposed improvements. The survey is available online in English and in Spanish.

Previous draft versions eliminated of most of the five baseball fields on the park’s northwest side, replacing them with amenities such as desert landscape gardens and a relaxation area with hammocks. Four of the five fields are preserved the new draft plan after Tucson’s baseball organizations protested their potential removal.

Eddie Sapp, president of the Tucson Men’s Senior Baseball League, which played more than 300 games last season on the fields initially eyed for removal, said he appreciates city officials’ willingness to work with the baseball community to preserve them.

The sites, which Sapp said have existed at the park for half a century or more, also are used for out-of-town tournaments and by Korean baseball teams during spring training.

Baseball was not identified as a high priority use in initial public survey results posted earlier this year on the city’s project website. Respondents said their favorite Reid Park features include natural areas, water features, gardens, walking and biking trails, picnic areas, lawns and the park’s outdoor performance venue.

The final draft of the park proposals calls for upgrades including:

A central playground with splash pad, with two smaller playgrounds elsewhere in the park.

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A desert wildlife garden south of the park’s existing rose garden.

A nature area with a boardwalk, bird blinds and an observation structure.

A lawn area for holding festivals north of the park’s north pond.

An art plaza south of the south pond.

The new master plan will only cover Reid Park proper, and not the adjacent Reid Park Zoo. The zoo has its own separate plan — one that no longer encroaches on the Reid Park duck pond after a public outcry in 2020 over plans to use the duck pond land for a new tiger habitat.