The historic grandstands at the Lacasse Ball Park in Tecumseh are in need of some TLC.
Council has approved spending up to $60,000 on an architect to figure out the best path forward.
Tecumseh's Director of Parks and Recreation Paul Anthony says the bleachers were built in the 1950's and then restored in 1996 after a fire, but not much has been done since then.
He says they'll also be reaching out to the community and user groups for feedback.
"The first step this year will be to engage the services of an architect to help us to through a number of public consultations with council, user groups, the Tecumseh Thunder, St. Clair College to come up with a plan that we would like to see a redevelopment of the grandstands and possibly the backstop at Lacasse Park."
Anthony says the grandstands hold a special place in the local baseball community.
"Anybody in the area that's ever played baseball, when you think of baseball you think of a couple of places and Lacasse Park is one of them. The town has invested in the last number of years. We put in lights, enhanced the warning track and some artificial turf in a few areas. So it really is the place to play ball and we want to continue that tradition."
The Lacasse Ball Park in Tecumseh (Photo courtesy of tecumsehthunderbaseball.com)
He says accessibility has become an issue as well.
"The facility is getting older. A lot of the AODA issues, there's no railings going up the stairs, it's tough for some people in wheelchairs to be able to get to the stands to watch the game. So I think there's a lot of upgrades that need to be done."
The review of the grandstands will be done sometime next year with repairs expected to begin in 2021.
A recent survey carried out by the town found a large number of residents concerned about the condition of the grandstands and the need to replace them.