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City to sale Atchison ballpark

By Brian Hagen

08/02/2019

Walt Wilburn Memorial Ballpark/Credit: City of Atchison/Facebook

(KAIR)--Citing limited usage and costs of continued maintenance, the decision is made to sell a once popular Atchison ballpark.

According to a news release issued by the City of Atchison, Walt Wilburn Memorial Ballpark, located in the city’s Branchton area, will be put up for sale through the Atchison Land Bank.

According to the release, the decision comes as part of the City’s plan to “right-size” Atchison’s park lands and facilities.

In the release, City Manager Becky Berger said Atchison has too many parks for the size of the city, and the City needs to focus its “limited resources where they can be most effective.”

The ballpark was once maintained by the Atchison Recreation Commission, which has an independent tax levy and budget. However, when the Atchison County Sports Complex opened in 2010, near the Atchison Elementary School, maintenance of Walt Wilburn Ballpark fell to the City despite not having any extra funding to do so.

According to the release, the right-size strategy is to allow others to take over what the City calls “underutilized lands and facilities” in order to allow better use of those locations, which will allow the City “to focus its constrained resources on parks and facilities that serve a larger percentage of the City’s population.”

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