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Baseball, softball put on hold

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Flooding photos

Severe storms and flooding have caused problems locally and statewide. If you have been affected, we want your photos. Send us your photo.

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JANESVILLE — Safety first.

Ball games. A distant second.

That will be the motto for the rest of the summer in Janesville as the City of Parks quickly turned into the City of Water Parks.

The worst flooding since at least 1959 has shut down all recreational activities at Monterey Park, Traxler Park, Riverside Park and Dawson Ball Fields. Sand volleyball pits are under water at Traxler and Riverside, forcing Janesville Leisure Services to move all games to Palmer Park and Janesville Craig High School.

Adult and youth softball leagues at Dawson and Monterey have been idle for more than a week and will likely stay that way for at least the next 10 days.

Janesville’s American Legion baseball team and the Janesville Aces semi-pro team are without a place to play because, although the Riverside field is relatively dry, there is no access to the diamond because the road through the park is under water.

Even with the Rock River expected to crest Friday at just under 14 feet, Parks Supervisor Cliff Englert said don’t expect water levels to recede overnight.

“There’s a rule of thumb involved when talking about the Rock River,” Englert said. “However long it takes for the river to go down is going to be the same as it took for it to go up.

“The biggest problem you run into at any of the parks that are affected is accessibility. Is it safe to drive in that area? And is parking available without destroying property around it?”

Englert said much of the strain on the Rock River stems from tributaries in the Madison area. All five Madison area lakes flow into the Yahara River, which eventually feeds into the Rock River.

“If they get dumped on again, then we eventually feel it as well,’’ Englert said. “And that’s something we can’t control.”

Cullen Slapak, the recreational director for Janesville Leisure Services, has watched the Spring Brook Creek overflow and settle onto the warning tracks of the North and East diamonds at Dawson Ball Fields.

Between softball and kickball leagues, Dawson is used six nights a week. With contaminated water covering parts of two fields, and a 1/3 of the parking lot under water, Slapak is not sure when league play will resume.

“I sent memos out to team managers canceling everything through Thursday night, but after talking with some people from the city and looking at how bad it is down there, I know it’s going to be longer than that,” Slapak said. “Early next week was the hope, but that’s not very likely right now.”

The biggest problem in trying to get any of the playing fields ready is not flooding but the contamination of the water and the harmful bacteria that will remain after the fields have dried.

Eventually the water will go away. Bacteria will not.

And that is a glaring concern, according to Peter Riggs, an administrative assistant with the City of Janesville.

“The cleanup with this flooding is going to be an enormous undertaking,” Riggs said. “I would say Traxler Park, as far as any activities, is done for the summer. And Riverside is probably the same.

“Drying out is not the problem. But after everything dries, you have to go and clean up everything because the ground will be contaminated. That’s going to take weeks and weeks to do, and that can’t start until the flood waters recede.”

Sand bags were filled and displaced around Monterey Stadium and all of the equipment stored in the locker rooms and underneath the stadium were moved—thanks to city workers and members of Janesville Parker High School’s football team.

“We’re about as prepared as we can be and are keeping our fingers crossed,” Dave Leeder, the school district’s maintenance supervisor, said about Monterey Stadium. “We’re just hoping the water doesn’t reach the football field or encroach the doorways into the stadium.

“We’ve covered the internal drainage system in hopes that everything doesn’t back up. But if that does happens—and I’d say it’s about 50/50 right now—then we have a plan in place.”

Softball and kickball games at Dawson and Monterey Park can likely be made up by either extending the season, or by playing doubleheaders. The Aces and Legion teams won’t have that luxury.

Legion assistant coach Bob Schenck said if Riverside is unavailable for the rest of the summer, the team may try to play home games at Phil McQuade Memorial Field. That would require permission from Youth Baseball of Janesville and would have to be at times when the field is not being used.

The other option is playing a primarily road schedule.

“We may have to become Road Warriors,” Schenck said. “There isn’t much we can do about it.”

There’s not much anybody can do about it until the City of Water Parks dries up.