Facelift For Ocean City Athletic Complex May Begin in Fall

By MADDY VITALE Ocean City will look to obtain grants to help pay for a major project that would spruce up the Richard S. Grimes Athletic Fields complex, with work potentially beginning in the fall, officials said. Grimes Field is one of the hubs for Ocean City’s sports and recreation community and is in line for a proposed $4.2 million facelift in 2023. Mayor Jay Gillian said during the Feb. 23 City Council meeting that the project at Grimes Field is a major priority, and that since it is such a large and pricey undertaking, the city would like to look at some potential grants to offset the cost. “We got the plans all together and we realized there was some grant application we can get,” Gillian said while addressing Council. While speaking of the project, Gillian noted that Second Ward Councilman Tom Rotondi has taken the lead on the matter. “Once we saw the price tag, Tom, we wanted to make sure we could do it right,” Gillian said to Rotondi. The athletic complex is named in honor of the late community leader and recreation advocate Richard S. "Dick" Grimes. The complex’s location in a low-lying area off Bay and Haven avenues between Fifth and Sixth streets often results in the grassy fields getting soggy or muddy. City officials plan to regrade and raise the fields to make them less susceptible to rain or flooding. New amenities are also under consideration, including better bleachers and bathrooms. The athletic complex is named in honor of the late community leader and recreation advocate Richard S. "Dick" Grimes. “It’s going to be a big project and there is no question, Mr. Grimes deserves to have the right field," Gillian said. "We are working on that now and hopefully in the fall, we will get some construction going -- that is definitely coming." An overhaul for Grimes Field is one of the major recreation projects proposed in the city’s $146.2 million, five-year capital plan, which is a sweeping blueprint for municipal projects that may be built from 2023 to 2027. The complex serves as the home field for the Ocean City High School baseball team. Among other things, the Grimes complex also is used as a playing field or practice site for high school softball, Babe Ruth Baseball, a men’s baseball league, the Ocean City Nor’easters soccer team and the Jr. Raiders football program. The athletic complex was named in honor of Grimes in 2008. Grimes was 96 when he died in 2014.