The city of McComb broke ground on Mississippi’s first Miracle League baseball field Monday at a ceremony in Edgewood Park.
Today, the city is halting all work.
Mayor Zach Patterson announced at a city board work session Monday that officials will hold a public hearing at City Hall at 5:30 p.m., July 15, and will consider rescinding a lease for the Miracle League if necessary after some residents of Edgewood Park complained about the project’s location.
The Miracle League, which organizes baseball games for children with physical or mental disabilities, had originally planned to place a field in the McComb Sports Park.
The project was later moved so that the sports park could accommodate a regulation-size soccer field, with Miracle League officials saying Edgewood Park was a better fit anyhow due to Dixie Youth Baseball already being played there.
Residents opposed to the field’s location have pointed to a 1930 park deed that mandates a city vote to approve use of the grounds for any purpose other than a public park. They say they aren’t opposed to the Miracle League, but prefer not to lose green space in Edgewood Park to bring the league to McComb.
City officials, including Patterson, have reiterated their support for the project, but Patterson said he felt holding a hearing is “in the interest of fairness.”
“We want to make sure that they have an opportunity to be heard, even though we have voted for the city to sign a lease, and that’s exactly what I did,” Patterson said. “I want the citizens of McComb to know that we will revote this if necessary. … But we have to remember that we’re trying to do something good, so remember what the objective is.
“We’re not here to be divisive or cause friction. We want to discuss our differences and come to some kind of solution,” Patterson added.
Former mayor and local Miracle League director Ronnie Wilkinson, speaking to the board, was less charitable in his assessment of the situation.
“Quite frankly, guys, (National Miracle League Executive Director) Diane Alford told me today that we will be the first community to have anybody protest having a Miracle League seated in a community, and that’s really disheartening,” Wilkinson said. “I think maybe it might be that some people just don’t understand this field is very small. It’s 125 feet from backstop to center field … as far as us taking any grass away, it’s going to be very little.”
And Selectman Melvin Joe Johnson asked pointedly whether there had been similar protests about the loss of green space when youth baseball fields were placed in Edgewood Park.
“I don’t think anybody protested that,” Wilkinson responded.
Wilkinson added that games could be scheduled around Dixie Youth activities to avoid traffic problems, and said he also felt there would be some tangential benefit to the city from visitors to the Miracle League Park.
“We’re going to bring a lot of people into McComb,” Wilkinson said. “And we haven’t asked the city for a penny.”
