NYS Opening Day kicks off Monarch Improvement Project

Hangge Fields at Monarch Park will host Opening Day ceremonies on Sunday, May 1st, for the Niwot Youth Sports baseball and softball seasons.

Ball games will start earlier, but at 10 a.m., NYS officials will interrupt play to conduct an Opening Day ceremony, complete with a performance of the Star Spangled Banner by the Niwot Community Semi-Marching Free Grange Band, and a special guest appearance by Dinger, official mascot of the Colorado Rockies.

Families who have made significant contributions to NYS programs over the last 50 years have been invited to attend, including the Hangge, Warren, Hagen, Canar, Comer, Spencer, Dageenakis and Kurcab families.

Executive Director Pat Longseth, himself an NYS alum, and other NYS board members will be on hand to introduce a fundraising campaign for a major construction project at the fields. According to the NYS website, "After many years of planning, we are finally ready for the Monarch Improvement Project. Our initial goal is to build a permanent structure to house the concession stand, a storage facility, and real bathrooms."

The construction project was first proposed over 20 years ago, but has been put on hold several times over the years. The organization has approximately $100,000 on hand to help fund the project, which could cost upwards of $400,000.

Many of those costs are expected to be covered by in-kind donations. Already, NYS has received donated services from architect Anne Postle and Osmosis Architecture for the building design. Riki Frea, who spearheaded the fundraising campaign for the Niwot Children's Park, has volunteered her time and energy for the fundraising campaign. Glen Wager, NYS Softball Director, has taken the lead on bringing the construction aspects of the project to fruition. Board member Tony Dageenakis has helped organize the concessions sold at games over the past several years, with the proceeds making up the bulk of the funds raised to date.

NYS President Tom Moore has worked with Boulder County Parks & Open Space to gain approval of the project, and Larry Longseth, who helped construct the fields as the former long-time equipment director for NYS, coordinated the effort to connect the new restrooms with the Niwot Sanitation District sewer line.

One of the more popular appeals of the project to parents will be "no more using port-a-potties when out at the field," according to the organizing committee. The facility is designed to include a permanent concessions stand, restrooms, a meeting room, and storage space.

The six ballfields at the Monarch Park facility, known as Hangge Fields at Monarch Park in honor of longtime NYS volunteer Greg Hangge and his family, are primarily located on an 8-acre parcel dedicated to Boulder County in 1984 for ballfields as part of the approval of the Monarch Park development. Two of the six fields were added later on easements granted to Niwot Youth Sports during development of the Boulder Tech Center.

All of the fields were constructed by Niwot Youth Sports over the years, primarily with volunteer labor. The fields often host softball tournaments, such as the Indian Peaks Girls Softball Association's annual Tune-Up Tournament, which was held April 24-25.

The website includes this plea: "Please consider how you can help: financially, by sharing the news, through in-kind donations, and/or volunteering. Niwot Youth Sports was built by our community, for our community, and now we need your support to take the next step in improving our fields."

Tax-deductible donations can be made at https://donorbox.org/monarch-improvement-project.