SJI Community Foundation Partners to Finish Baseball Field

Left to right – Project partners on site at John O. Linde Community Park: Scott Boden and Carrie Unpingco (SJICF), Fred Woods (SJI School District), Maddie Ovenell (Island Rec),  Mitch and Mike Carlson (Carlson Enterprises), Adam Eltinge and Scott Zehner (Island Rec) – Contributed photo

Thanks to a generous gift from an anonymous donor, the baseball field at the John O. Linde Community Park will be completed in 2019. With the San Juan Island Community Foundation serving as the fund steward, Mike Carlson Enterprises broke ground in late June and will complete the baseball field, walking path and general use areas. Expected to be finished by late October, the grass in the newly-developed field will need time to establish roots and could be ready for play as soon as 2020.

The John O. Linde Community Park was first dedicated in September 2017. The site is owned by the San Juan Island School District and maintained by Island Rec. Open to the public year-round, existing amenities include a playground, soccer field, multipurpose field and a partial walking path. The park is used by visitors and San Juan Islanders of all ages, including Friday Harbor High School teams.

An oversight committee has been formed and includes representatives from the SJI Community Foundation, Island Rec, the SJI School District and engineer Don Campbell from Robert W. Droll Landscape Architect, PS. The committee actively monitors the progress of the contracted work to ensure the project will be completed on time and on budget.

Carrie Unpingco, Executive Director of the SJI Community Foundation said, “We’re so happy to be finally finishing this project and look forward to having a baseball field available for regulation play. Along with the existing fields and playground, the walking path and common area is yet another beautiful outdoor resource for families and visitors in our community.”

Founded in 1994, the SJI Community Foundation is dedicated to improving and enriching the quality of life on San Juan Island by encouraging philanthropy, growing an endowment for purposeful grants to community charitable organizations, and building partnerships that effectively connect donors with island nonprofit organizations and their projects.

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