In the dead of a January cold snap, in the teeth of a Blackfoot Canyon wind, Bonner's new baseball grandstand at Kelly Pine Field is rising at the hands of hearty builders.
“It's the worst time we could pick,” said Kevin Price, whose construction company is doing the building.
Bennett, Mike Palmer, Coltin Sweeney and Dax Kannady put the last of eight trusses in place Thursday on the grandstand that will replace, but still resemble, the old wooden one that served countless ballplayers and spectators from 1937 until last summer.
Their worksite was blanketed in snow, but the frigid temperatures that at times plummeted below zero had eased by the end of the week. That ended more than a week of numbing cold work conditions.
“Last Thursday was bad, but Monday was the worst,” said Mike Palmer, as he headed to his pickup for lunch break on Thursday. The wind whipped already cold temperatures down to downright miserable conditions.
“If it's 6 degrees out here, it's probably 10 below because of the wind chill,” Bennett said.
Price was set to begin construction last summer after the old grandstand was demolished. But the project was put on ice, literally, when Missoula County inspectors found problems with the design's disability access.
“We had a lot of volunteer engineering and architecting that went into it, and when the ADA (issues) came up we had to go back to the architect and get him to donate more time to get those issues addressed,” he said. “It just drug out and drug out. It cost us about three months.”
Thus the winter construction, which Price said all six of his employees have worked on.
“Just from years of experience, I've found that production starts dropping off at about 15 degrees. If it gets below zero I won't send 'em out,” he said.
There's another month's worth of work to be done, but it's hard to say exactly when the roof will be on, the steps will be in, and the brickwork on the sides will be completed.
They do as much as they can in the morning inside the shop, cutting and prefitting poles, Price said. The extra few degrees of warmth his men gain makes a lot of difference when they get to the site.
“Obviously, it takes more time and costs more money than what you anticipate,” Price said. “But the guys are certainly entitled to take a break and get inside when it's really cold.”
Since much of the new grandstand is made of small-diameter timber, the U.S. Forest Service is involved as part of the Healthy Forests Initiative. That helped defray some of the estimated $140,000 the project will cost if dugouts are added.
“Logs are round. They're not square, so that's more a challenge to work with,” Bennett said. “But it's not too bad. The company we work with (Porterbilt Post and Pole in Hamilton) keeps them pretty true to 6-inch round.”
The site of a former stagecoach station became a ballpark 70 years ago on land owned by the Anaconda Co. The grandstand, dugouts and an accompanying set of bleachers were built by volunteers from the company. Years later, the dugouts were replaced and the bleachers demolished.
Stimson Lumber, a second-generation successor of Anaconda in the lumber mill across Highway 200, gave the ballpark and land to Bonner School in 1994.
School Superintendent Doug Ardiana, along with the Bonner Development Group and Mount Jumbo East Little League, headed the drive for a new grandstand when it became clear the old one was a safety/insurance liability.
Nearly two years ago, they launched a community-based fundraising project to finance a replacement. All but $20,000 of the $140,000 has been raised, Ardiana said this week.
“We're still taking contributions for the amenities like dugouts,” he said. “There's still a chance for people to participate.”
Ardiana and the grandstand committee have in mind various nonbaseball projects to augment the field's use when the covered bleachers are finished.
Mount Jumbo East has contracted to put up a backstop of netting similar to the one at the American Legion's Lindborg-Cregg Field in Missoula.
The initial netting will cost $3,900, league president Rod Austin said. That money has been raised through a memorial fund Mount Jumbo East established for Patrick Guffey, a former all-star in the league who died in a diving accident in 2003.
“One of the reasons we went to the netting is that (Ardiana) has talked about holding other events there,” Austin said. “If you can lower that netting, you make it a lot more appealing to watch a dog show, a concert, whatever it is.”
The goal, he said, is to have the backstop up by the first of April, when Little League baseball teams start practicing. Games start April 23 this year.
Meanwhile, the winter work goes on - weather or not.
“It's not too bad in the cab of the truck when I drive by and check,” Price said with a chuckle. “As long as I roll down the window on the side away from the wind, I'm OK.”
Reporter Kim Briggeman can be reached at 523-5266 or at kbriggeman@missoulian.com
Help make a stand
Contributions are welcome for the final $20,000 of the $140,000 grandstand project at Kelly Pine Field. Contact Bonner School Superintendent Doug Ardiana at 258-6161 or Rod Austin of Mount Jumbo East Little League at 531-3636.
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