Ryder Park Turf Baseball Bid Postponed By City Council
(Grand Island, NE) - The Grand Island City Council on Tuesday night approved a motion to officially postpone accepting a bid and contract for the Ryder Park baseball field turf project.
(#2025-258 - Approving Bid Award for Ryder Park Baseball Field Improvements - Rebid) was on the meeting agenda. A motion was filed to withhold the funding for the project until October 14th. The October date comes after the fiscal year 2026 budget approval date, which would be on September 23rd. Members of the council expressed how they would like to have the turf project figured into the next overall budget rather than approving the Ryder Park turf project separately. The original bids earlier this summer came in over budget for the project, which then led to the rebid process.
The recent rebid from Nemaha Sports Construction came in just under $4 million. $182,662 is in hand of what has been a so far total of $1 million committed to the baseball project through private donations collected by the Grand Island Baseball Committee. It was noted in the study session on Tuesday night before the official City Council meeting that $3.25 million would come from the City of Grand Island.
Originally, the vision of the project was to have included a multi-purpose use to the facility with built-in softball fields stemming from the left and right field corners, along with new bathrooms and a concession stand. When the original bids came in too high, the project had to be reduced to focus more on field turf and new lights. Additional private donations will have to be collected to cover the cost of adding a new concession stand and bathrooms.
With the project now on pause, plenty of questions now come up. Will the project still be figured into the upcoming budget? Will it be approved come October 14th? If approved, will the project be completed in time for the spring Grand Island Senior High baseball season? If not, where will the team play potential home games for the 2026 season? Ashley Park may just have to become a temporary home for varsity contests.