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Ford Field fundraising begins

by Dave Boyce

Community fundraising has begun for a $540,000 project to rehabilitate Ford Field, the Little League baseball diamond at the corner of Alpine Road and Westridge Drive in Portola Valley.

The Sand Hill Foundation in Menlo Park, on behalf of the family of Susan Ford Dorsey, is offering donors from the community an opportunity to match its $100,000 Ford Family Challenge Gift, according to Interim Assistant Town Manager Barbara Powell.

Some $230,000 in reimbursement money would come from the state, which, despite its budget problems, has more or less agreed to the grants, Ms. Powell said.

The town is asking the Alpine-West Menlo Little League, the field's only organized user, to raise its contribution to $75,000 from the original $50,000. The town is seeking the remaining $135,000 from the community at large.

Visit tinyurl.com/PVfield123 for more information.

The upgrades to the field include re-grading, a new irrigation system, new dugouts, backstop, bleachers and batting cage, and better paths to the parking lots, Ms. Powell said. Construction is set to begin in mid-June.

Not to be upgraded or to have its status quo threatened is the hollowed-out but beloved oak tree that resides along the first base line.

Another major donor "expressed initial interest in potentially undertaking the project on his own, perhaps including (a) snack shack, bathrooms and other amenities, (but) to date these discussions have not culminated in a confirmation that he intends to pursue the project," Ms. Powell told the Almanac.