Winter 2011 - K-Space Web Page - Central Catholic High School

12 Feature Story | Winter 2011Central Catholic Announces InnovativOn November 9, at a news conference attendedby the entire student body, Central CatholicHigh School announced its plans to participatein the construction of a new facility for its Irishbaseball and softball teams.Central Catholic has partnered with theDiocese of Toledo and a benefactor of the highschool, Cleves Delp ’82, to create a project thatis the first of its kind in this area – a land leaseand commercial charitable partnership to fundthe new stadium’s construction. According toCleves, the facility will be commercially ownedwith a charitable intent. His long-term plan isto donate the facility back to the diocese.“The cooperation of the diocese in this landlease makes the project economically feasible,”says Cleves. “It is an experiment in charitablefundraising, a combination of a privateventure and a charitable project. Facilities areimportant in attracting high quality studentathletes, and Central Catholic already has thebest facilities for football and basketball. Wewant the best for baseball too.”The new facility will be located on propertynorth of the current Monsignor Schmit CYOAthletic Complex, east of Holland-SylvaniaRoad and south of Resurrection Cemetery.State of the Art FacilityThe Fighting Irish baseball team has usedthe field at the City of Toledo’s Joe E. BrownPark as its home diamond for many years.The Lady Irish softball team plays its homegames at Shillelagh Field behind the CentralCatholic building. The new facility will allowthe Irish teams to continue to bring in qualityopponents, and it will put the Central Catholicbaseball and softball programs on par with thebasketball and football programs that use theSullivan Center and Gallagher Stadium. Thecomplex will also be used as a practice field forthe boys’ and girls’ soccer teams.The artificial turf featured in the infield andoutfield and the installation of lights make thefield suitable for play in nearly any weathercondition and at any time of day. Studyrooms with Internet access will allow studentathletes to also focus on their academics.Other amenities such as the press box, suite,concession stand, hitting cages, locker rooms,scoreboard, sound system, and picnicareas will make this the best baseballfacility for any high school in the countryand put it on par with many collegefacilities.The facility will be available for rentwhen not in use by Central Catholic,creating a state of the art option toattract college teams, youth travelteams, fall baseball leagues, and othertournaments and showcases that wouldbenefit the Toledo area. Lourdes Collegehas already agreed to be involved whenits new baseball team begins playing.Building the Dream“This idea really got going in August of2009 when I gathered five people arounda table with me and shared this dream withthem,” says Central Catholic baseball coach JeffMielcarek. “We talked about what we wouldlike to see in terms of a new facility, and wewent look to at one at Adrian College that weconsidered to be our model. From there webegan to meet with more people to keep thedream going. Along the way, Cleves Delp gotinvolved and excited about the project andstepped to the plate.”Others who have been involved with thephysical plans include Mike Boyle, CentralCatholic’s Vice President of Operations, andJesse MacDonald, the director of marketingfor TDC Companies and head coach of theCCHS boys’ golf and tennis teams. Poggemeyerwww.centralcatholic.org