New diamonds won't be ready by spring

Tucumcari High School’s new baseball and softball fields that are under construction won’t be ready for games by spring, said the school district’s superintendent last week.

That means the Rattlers baseball team will have to play its home games at Logan High School’s field near the entrance of Ute Lake State Park, said superintendent Aaron McKinney during a Tucumcari Public Schools board meeting on Nov. 28.

McKinney said he will coordinate with Logan Municipal Schools’ athletic director to avoid a scheduling conflict with the field.

McKinney said the Tucumcari High School softball team still will play at the complex in Tucumcari this coming spring because a field with the required dimensions still is available there.

He anticipated the new fields won’t be ready for play until summer.

Voters in the district approved a $3 million bond issue in 2019 to redevelop the baseball and softball fields after the district acquired the land from the city. Construction has been slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the unexpected complexity of the survey, supply-chain issues and rising costs.

McKinney said the district will perform its own concrete work and grading at the site, saving about $625,000.

The district has performed other work for the project, including demolition of the current fields, to save money.

The City of Tucumcari this fall donated $400,000 in executive lodgers tax funds to help defray costs for the project.

McKinney, who has been superintendent for 16 years, said he wants the project to be mostly complete before he retires. He is under contract through July 2024.