USA Baseball Groundbreaking Features Tommy Lasorda

[Brent]

GROUNDBREAKING SET FOR USA BASEBALL TRAINING COMPLEX; EVENT TO FEATURE LEGENDARY TOMMY LASORDA

WHAT: Public groundbreaking ceremony for the USA Baseball National Training Center, followed by a VIP-only luncheon

WHEN: Monday, August 8, 2005, at 10:30 a.m.

WHERE: Town of Cary Thomas Brooks Park, 111 Brooks Park Lane

WHO: Special guest Tommy Lasorda as well as USA Baseball officials, the Cary Town Council, and Town of Cary staff

BACKGROUND:
USA Baseball, which selects and trains the Olympic team and other U.S. amateur teams, has chosen Cary for its national training center. The $10.8 million complex, which includes $1 million of its funding from Wake County’s Occupancy and Prepared Food/Beverage Tax fund, will feature three training fields, one signature field, retail space, a ticket booth, concessions, and restrooms. It should be completed by the summer of 2007.

DIRECTIONS:
From downtown Cary, take High House Road west. Turn right (north) onto NC HWY 55. Turn left onto Green Hope School Road, which dead ends at Green Level Church Road. Turn left again. Thomas Brooks Park will be on your left at the 9000 block. Media should proceed to the back of the park for parking most adjacent to the event site. *Travel time from downtown Cary is about 20 minutes.

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PRIMARY CONTACTS:
Susan Moran, Public Information Officer, 460-4951
Dave Fanucchi, USA Baseball, (919) 474-8721

[Brent]

WORK BEGINS ON USA BASEBALL NATIONAL TRAINING FACILITY
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CARY, NC – At a ceremony this morning, the Town of Cary and officials from USA Baseball broke ground on USA Baseball’s new $10.8 million national training center that will feature three training fields, one signature field, retail space, a ticket booth, concessions, and restrooms.* The complex, which should be completed by the summer of 2007, is being built on 127 acres at Cary’s Thomas Brooks Park, located just a few miles west of HWY 55 off Green Level Church Road.* USA Baseball, which selects and trains the Olympic Baseball Team and other USA amateur teams, has chosen Cary for its national training center.
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"We are pleased and proud to be able to begin construction on this exciting project,” said Cary Mayor Pro Tem Jack Smith.* “Our partnership with USA Baseball and support from Wake County will allow us to create recreation opportunities over and above what could typically be offered.”* One million dollars of the $10.8 million project is coming from the Wake County Occupancy and Prepared Food/Beverage Tax fund.
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Attending today’s onsite ceremony were USA Baseball Executive Director/CEO Paul Seiler, USA Baseball President Mike Gaski, and the Cary Town Council.* 2000 USA Olympic Gold Medal team manager & Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda was unable to attend.
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“This project has always been at the center of the decision to move our headquarters to the Triangle,” said Seiler. “To see what the Town of Cary has committed to, and to have it all come together in such a wonderful manner, we couldn’t be happier. We are very much looking forward to sharing this facility with the residents of Cary, and having our elite level athletes train here.”

The training center project team is being led by Heery International, a design, engineering and construction management firm with 30 offices worldwide.* Heery has provided integrated services for such projects as the Georgia Dome, the 1996 Olympic Stadium (later converted to Turner Field) and several award-winning minor league baseball parks and college stadiums.* Beginning with the 1963 design of Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, Heery has completed more than 150 sports projects, providing enough seats to accommodate over a million fans.
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In June, the Cary Town Council awarded the construction contract to T.A. Loving.*

“We think this is going to be one of the finest baseball training facilities in the country,” said Gaski.* “When it’s all said and done, it will be something for the entire region to be very proud of.”

USA Baseball’s national training center will join a number of other offerings at Cary’s Thomas Brooks Park, which was opened nearly four years ago.* The park currently includes a four-field softball complex with tower, two soccer fields, a playground, picnic facility, shelter with restrooms, and outdoor lighted basketball courts.
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The training center is also one in a series of notable investments the Town of Cary has made in its parks, recreation, and cultural resources program over the last several years.* Other first class facilities include the state-of-the-art Koka Booth Amphitheatre at Regency Park, Sk8 Cary—the county’s first public skate park, and the 30-court Cary Tennis Center.* Last fall the Town also agreed to Wake County’s request to start managing and maintaining the SAS Soccer Park, which is located on Cary’s eastern town limits.
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These facilities, as well as 21 parks and over 31 miles of trails and greenways, are overseen by the Town’s nationally accredited and award-winning Department of Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Resources.
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For more information on this or any other Town of Cary project, please visit us online at www.townofcary.org.
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PRIMARY CONTACTS:
Mary Henderson, Town of Cary PRCR Director, (919) 460-4061
Dave Fanucchi, USA Baseball, (919) 474-8721
Bill Coleman, Town Manager, (919) 469-4002
Susan Moran, Public Information Officer, (919) 460-4951