Our View: Get to root of problem with Bluffton's old field

The town of Bluffton is being a good neighbor in trying to help Eagles Field remain the significant community pillar it once was.

The town has agreed to help the Bluffton Eagles Action Committee, led by Town Council member Fred Hamilton, in reasonable, small ways. It has agreed to mow the grass at the baseball field once a month and let the committee that runs the Sam Bennett Sports Complex use town maintenance equipment.

Perhaps most importantly, the town staff is to help the committee apply for federal, state and private grants.

In return, the town can hold events at the 14-acre site at the corner of Buck Island Road and Bluffton Parkway.

Town leaders should feel a tug at the heart for its community history and traditions. It is appropriate for it to aid the clear mission statement of the late Sam "Bosie" Bennett Jr., who started organizing baseball games in the area in the 1930s: "We had a lot of young folks out in the street, with nothing to do. I figured it would keep them out of trouble."

Our concern is not the town's support, but the continuous need of outside help at Eagles Field. It raises the question of whether baseball, softball or whatever else the organizers have been able to come up with to improve local youth and families is working in the 21st century.

When Sun City Hilton Head came to town in the mid-1990s, the developer swooped in as a savior for the organization by buying the field to keep it from being used for excavation. It wanted to show support for its new community, and to honor its own namesake, Del Webb, and his love of baseball.

Del Webb later donated the land to the Bluffton Eagles Action Committee, with deed restrictions that it always be used for Eagles baseball.

Two years ago, members of the LowCountry Community Church in Bluffton chipped in labor, materials and equipment to try to pull sagging facilities up to par.

Now the town will help.

All of this is good. The team has done a lot of good for Bluffton for many generations, and its field has recently been used for back-to-school events and Easter egg hunts.

But our concern is that there is a bigger problem here than who's going to mow the grass. What does this community asset really need to keep it from going to seed?

This story was originally published September 30, 2015 at 8:23 PM with the headline "Our View: Get to root of problem with Bluffton's old field."