THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 30, 1995 TAG: 9507270221
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 58 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JEFF ZEIGLER, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: EDENTON LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
A baseball field which has served Edenton faithfully for the last 56 years is one step closer to being restored to its glory days.
Hicks Field, which sits next to John A. Holmes High School, was recommended by the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources Division of Archives and History to be included in the National Register of Historic Places.
If the field, which is in the second phase of renovations, is included in the register, federal and state money may become available to finish the $250,000 project.
``It would put us in a grant-requesting position for state and federal money,'' said Wallace Evans, an Edenton businessman who is chairman of the Hicks Field Preservation and Restoration Committee.
Hicks Field, which has wooden bleachers behind home plate and a wood fence, has an ambience which spectators cannot find in today's chain link fence ballparks. The structures date back to 1939 when the field was built by the WPA. The restoration committee wants to renovate the field in a way that will preserve its integrity.
``We want to preserve the history and at the same time present it in a way that it's more usable for today,'' Evans said.
Phase one of the project was the replacement of the lighting system which dated back to 1946. Evans said a decision was made to go with steel poles instead of the traditional wooden poles because of their durability.
A new scoreboard was also installed.
Evans said the next priority is the grandstand. ``Instead of replacing it with a replica, it will be dismantled and we will replace the parts that need to be replaced,'' he said.
The next phase would be the renovation and replacement of parts of the wood fence.
In its heyday, between 1939 and the mid 1950s, Hicks Field housed AA and AAA baseball training camps; exhibition games, including one with Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller as a member of the Norfolk Naval Yard team; and an Albemarle League team.
``It was quite a big deal when these players moved into Edenton for five to six weeks,'' Evans said. ``There were also some big-time games between Edenton, Elizabeth City, Hertford and Colerain. It was not unusual to have 4,000 or 5,000 for a game, especially if Elizabeth City or Edenton were in the playoffs.''
A lot has changed since the good old days. The Albemarle League died out in the 1950s. The field was taken over by the local school system. Today, the field is home to the Edenton-Holmes baseball team, the American Legion Post 40 baseball team, and the Edenton-Chowan Babe Ruth League. The field is used daily between February and mid-July.
Obviously, the future use of Hicks Field depends on money. If the state and federal dollars come through, the local interest is there.
``We have not had a concentrated effort in fund-raising and we still have raised $30,000 in private funds,'' Evans said. by CNB