What a great boon to West Bend!

May 21, 2018 – West Bend, WI – The West Bend Common Council emerged from closed session Monday to confirm a plan is in place to provide funds in a matching grant for improvements to Carl M. Kuss Field at Regner Park.

The deal includes a healthy grant from the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation.

“The schools district went out to get a $500,000 grant from the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation and that’s a game changer for the project,” said West Bend Mayor Kraig Sadownikow.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) approved by the Common Council will be official once the other organizations approve it.  According to Sadownikow, the decision was “easy” from a financial perspective.

“What it entails is $100,000 in cash from the city and there will be at least $75,000 in work we can do with demolition to the existing field and knocking down the grandstand,” said Sadownikow. “We spend somewhere between $60,000 and $75,000 a year to maintain the field so by eliminating that we’re paying for our investment in two to three years.”

Sadownikow praised the West Bend Baseball Association for donating “tons of time and energy” with money and scoreboards and field work. “I’ve been involved in five years of discussion, but getting the $500,000 grant is very important and what the MOU recognizes is $175,000 from the City of West Bend,  $100,000 from the West Bend School District and $35,000 directly from the WBBA.”

The remaining balance of the first $500,000 will be privately raised.