York County Press Release
YORK – The York County Commissioners gave their full approval this week to a York County Visitors Improvement grant of $75,000 for the new Jack Vincent Press Box project at Levitt Stadium.
The York County Visitors Bureau Board of Directors review the grant applications for money from the improvement fund (which is generated by lodging tax revenue in York County). Then they make a recommendation to the county board which makes the final decision.
The visitors improvement fund dollars are intended for projects which enhance tourism in York County and create overnight stays.
Bob Sautter, representing the YCVB as he transitions into retirement, met with the commissioners along with Troy Burgess from the Jack Vincent Press Box Committee.
Burgess explained how the city completed the major turf project at Levitt Stadium, “but there are still a few projects which need to be done. I sit on the Legion Baseball board and we talked about how we can help make improvements as well to bring it up to snuff in order to host large tournaments and state tournaments. The existing press box is pretty rough, and we need to have a certain type of press box to get these types of large tournaments. We decided to take on the press box project and we formed a committee to design it and raise funds.
“Jack Vincent left some funds to be used as the Legion Committee saw fit, so we started with that and are thinking about funding,” Burgess said.
“The original budget was about $218,000. Since then, we decided to bring in a sound system as well. So now the budget is about $238,000.”
He said they obtained some large donations – from Cornerstone Bank, an anonymous donor, and others.
“So we felt we had enough to get started,” Burgess said. “The York County Visitors Bureau is recommending a Visitors Improvement grant of $75,000, which will bump us up enough to get it built in the timeframe needed (so it will be ready by the spring of 2025, which is the spring baseball season). This is a project for Legion Baseball, York High School Baseball, and York University Baseball. And it will be a premier place for baseball and we will be able to attract tournaments and tourism. We love baseball and want it to be the best place it can be.”
“It was a unanimous vote by the YCVB board to approve this grant, as it will bring in overnight stays, which is part of the intent,” Sautter said.
York County Commissioner Chairman Randy Obermier asked Commissioner LeRoy Ott to talk about his experience as an announcer in the current press box.
“It is tight and hot; there is hardly any room in there,” Ott said. “People have to leave the press box in order for other people to come in. It really is just a glorified chicken coop. I don’t know why they built it that way, back when it was built, but it definitely needs improvement. It’s not fun being in there.”
“This will be a nice change,” Obermier said. “Some of us remember playing at the stadium when there were still old wooden stands, so things are really improving. I’m all for it. The stadium now looks really nice and this would be a great improvement. There is $375,000 in the visitors improvement fund, so there is plenty of money for this.”
“It really does need to be done to match all the work which has recently been done to the stadium,” Ott said.
“And I’m glad they went out and got money from other sources as well,” Obermier said.
Burgess added that they are continuing to raise money for other projects at the stadium as well.
“Based on the YCVB recommendation and all that was shared about the condition of that press box, I move to approve the $75,000 grant,” Commissioner Daniel Grotz said.
All the commissioners agreed.
