By Curtis McInelly

The playing fields are nearing completion at the Cub River Sports Complex, a joint project of Lewiston and Richmond.

Five years ago, when Mick Stokes got the idea to build a sports complex, he had no idea it would become a reality.

"All big cities have good things like that for residents, and the people of the community got together and made something happen," said Stokes.

Stokes formed a committee of five people from the communities and set out to build a sports complex with very little money. The committee includes Kurt Allen, Brooks Tarbet, Bruce Traveler, and Gary Egbert. They made many phone calls and planned fund raisers to get money for the project. They got support from many residents, who were willing to donate their time and money to help build the complex.

The Merrill family, which owns Casper ice cream, donated the 25 acres at 11600 N. 350 East in Lewiston, next to the ice cream business. Various businesses donated materials and volunteered labor for landscaping and buildings. Once the ground was leveled and the sprinkler system was in, the city applied for restaurant tax money, which is given to cities for community improvement projects. That money was used to build the building. The complex is a $1 million project that has all been donated by the people, said Stokes.

The playing fields are built to have four baseball diamonds and seven soccer fields. The fences are built and workers are installing lights, which will be in place by summer, just in time for softball season.

Allen said that once the lights are in, the goal is to make it a community park for family activities and July Fourth celebrations. The citites also hope to start a baseball league that would involve the communities and even play Smithfield and Preston teams. This would also bring in revenue to help maintain the complex.

The committee also has hopes to eventually build an indoor recreation center with a swimming pool, a basketball gym, and indoor soccer facilities. This would be beneficial to families and would save people the expense of traveling into Logan or renting schools for indoor activities.

AH
MS

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