After being extensively vandalized, only concrete foundations remain of the restrooms and concession stand at what was the primary Glenwood baseball field as seen on May 27. Photo: Michael Hibblen
A community meeting is planned for Monday, June 8 at the dilapidated and vandalized baseball fields in Glenwood which haven’t been used in years. Karen Baker, a supporter of cleaning up the fields so they can again host games, says she wants people interested in volunteering with the project to see the extent of what would need to be done.
Baker was among those speaking on the idea during a Glenwood City Council meeting on Tuesday, May 26. The fields are currently owned, but not used by the Centerpoint School District. Superintendent Jody Cowart and members of the school board attended the meeting, expressing their support for the idea of donating the property, but because of legal requirements, said specific details will first need to be finalized. So far, this is simply in the discussion phase.
“I’ve researched what, from a reality standpoint, the school district can do if this was planned out well enough, where the school board wanted to deed the property over to what has to be an institution of higher education, technical institute, community college or a nonprofit organization, which would obviously be what would apply in this case,” Cowart said. “Is there a structure plan in place where the district or the board would feel comfortable in making that commitment to donating the property?”
Mayor Billy Plyler said residents who have been actively calling for again having ballfields in the city will need to be involved in making it happen. He detailed the extent of vandalism to facilities there, with the concession stand, bathrooms, bleachers and one of the dugouts burned in arson attacks. Lights above the field have also been shot out. Today all that remains of the buildings are their concrete foundations. A scoreboard and advertisements remain along the outfield fence.
“The people that are talking, they’re gonna have to do it because the school board’s not interested in that. They’re gonna basically relinquish the property if things were to go right and we’re gonna have to get active here, get a committee together and go back to the school board with a plan,” Plyler said.
He then opened the meeting for public comments, with Baker saying, “A lot of money is leaving our town for other communities that have ballparks. A lot of people are willing and ready to help when it can happen.”
She hopes to form a nonprofit organization that can pursue grant funding to cover the expense of buying needed supplies. One entity Baker said she has talked with is Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s charitable foundation Blue and You. It promotes health, fitness and wellness, and the proposed nonprofit would be required to show a need for the facility. There are other philanthropic entities that also support such endeavors.
But work repairing the ballfields would need to be completed by volunteers, she said. While there are several overgrown ballfields, which could eventually allow for baseball and softball fields, the effort would initially focus on making the main field again usable. The other fields are across the street. If tournaments are to eventually be held there, it was suggested two fields would be needed.
The baseball fields were originally owned by the Glenwood School District, which was merged in 1995 with the Amity School District, creating what is now the Centerpoint School District.
The proposed nonprofit would own the property, but the city would need to maintain it. Councilman Alan Moore suggested the city could try to find an older retired person who would be paid as a subcontractor to oversee the property. That person would also keep an eye out for any kind of vandalism like what has happened there in the past.
“It would cost the city very little to get back to where we started,” Moore said, adding that having ballfields would be extremely beneficial for the city’s young people.
There was then discussion about how the city would fund the maintenance. A hospitality sales tax on food sold at restaurants was one idea. If a proposal to allow the sale of alcohol in Pike County is approved by voters, that could also be a source. At this point backers of the initiative are gathering signatures and it has not been approved for the November ballot.
Mayor Plyler said it seems like two committees may be warranted, with one focused on the baseball fields and another on local taxes.
A memorandum of understanding would eventually need to be agreed upon by the Centerpoint School District, the city and the potential nonprofit. There are also liability concerns that would need to be resolved.
The community meeting on Monday, June 8 is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. The ballfields are located near City Park and the intersection of Park Street and Lakeshore Street.
This story was published in the May 29, 2026 issue of The Glenwood Herald.
Veteran reporter, editor and manager at newspapers, radio and television stations. I’m also a photographer, historian and author, having written the 2017 book Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas.
