Alton Selectboard approves new 'Green Monster' at Baggaley-Moulton Field

ALTON — A replica of the legendary Green Monster isn't going anywhere, thanks to the efforts of local volunteers dedicated to youth baseball. 

The Alton Youth League Board of Directors has spent years working with the community, raising funds, and making improvements to keep baseball alive for local children. The icing on the cake is being able to replace the ailing left field wall at Baggaley-Moulton Field, which looks like the famed Green Monster at Fenway Park, at no expense to taxpayers.

The total cost of the project is $73,407.56, which includes $66.307.56 for the fence, $6,700 for a geotechnical survey, and $400 for a utility line investigation.

With the selectboard’s unanimous approval May 26, the league has the green light for a new, 12-foot high wall, to be installed after fall ball finishes up in October. Baggaley-Moulton Field is the baseball diamond located at Jones Field Recreation Area.

Alton Youth League Treasurer Christi Wood told the selectboard, on May 26, the funds cover the cost of the failing wooden wall, with wear and tear after three decades of use. The new wall will be a synthetic vinyl replacement spanning 150 feet from left field to center field. The wall will peak at 12 feet for left field, and taper down to 8 feet in center field, creating an outfield similar to Fenway Park.

The project was originally discussed at the May 12 meeting, and selectboard members were impressed by the fundraising efforts.

“I think the board is kind of flabbergasted with the amount of money and effort that went into this,” selectboard member Richard Shea said on May 26, prior to the 4-0 vote. “Although, I do think it is typical of Alton. We have a lot of groups that put in a lot of time with no thought of reward to make the town better.”

Selectboard Chair Paul LaRochelle agreed, and made the motion to accept the request. Following its passing, a round of applause erupted through Town Hall.

Public hearing

Patrick Marcotte, president of the Alton Youth League, has lived in town for 13 years, and took over to lead the league about five years ago. He told the selectboard he had two kids in the league, and with a baby just approaching a year old, he thinks he’ll be doing this for a while.

“It’s been great, but honestly, that wall’s been failing,” Marcotte said. “We want to maintain the integrity of it. We get lots of compliments on our field when people come. We’ve done a lot of field maintenance on our own the last few years, in terms of dirt, with help at times. It’s a league we’re quite proud of.”

Marcotte said when he took over as president, there were a couple T-Ball teams and about 80 athletes. That number has now doubled, and towns have even reached out to the league asking for help. Alton plays in the Suncook Valley Cal Ripken Baseball League, and Marcotte said with surrounding towns having difficulty with numbers, they are assisting.

“I think we do a lot for the community,” Marcotte said. “We give kids something to do. Growing up in Rochester, I can’t tell you how much sports meant to me, in general, but it’s important for these kids to be busy.”

Parks & Recreation Commission Chair Ken Roberts has spent 28 years watching the Alton Youth League. At one time, it was almost at the point of dissolving, before a group of board members and supporters stepped forward. He called what they have done “tremendous.”

“I think they should be commended for everything they’ve done,” Roberts said.

Roberts said this is the largest donation the town has received from a private group in a long time, and he understands the hard work that has gone into it.

League Vice President Alicia O’Rourke said when she came on, just about the same time as Marcotte, the league was “failing.”

“Our kids were in the league, and we got an email that said if we didn’t have people to step up, they were going to have to disband something that had been around for decades,” O'Rourke said. “For us, we saw that as non-negotiable.”

O’Rourke said they made it work as best they could, with tireless efforts by board members and the community as a whole. She said they went from having almost no money in their bank account, to being able to come in front of the selectboard with this type of proposal.

O’Rourke said the league now not only keeps their iconic wall — which she said is a hit for players at home and athletes from surrounding communities — but also has the best uniforms. She said these things give their young athletes a sense of pride.

She said they couldn’t have done it without the volunteers, and generous businesses who provide yearly donations. She said they all see the impact the league can have, and what can happen if they don’t have people willing to do the hard work to keep it alive.

“I promise you, it is hard work,” O’Rourke told the board.

O’Rourke said there are parents coaching teams who are already busy with their own lives, on top of being on school committees and tending to other community endeavors. These parents are the ones who helped provide brand new dugouts. They are the ones who keep the field appealing.

A huge boost for the league came through a connection to Lilac Club Casino, in Rochester.

“We have done a lot of work,” O’Rourke said. “We are not going to get access to money like this likely again for a while, so we want to make sure we are putting it to the best use.”

Fundraising

O’Rourke was sponsorship coordinator before vice president, and told the selectboard she knows just how much work goes into raising money. The partnership with the Lilac Club Casino really put the fundraising over the top.

“That’s a large portion of why we were able to come in front of you today,” O’Rourke told the board.

Wood said in an interview that fundraising for the wall replacement took four years. She said they knew the fence was starting to fall apart, and had been talking to the town about replacing it.

Wood said the board comprises a proactive group, who were interested in the sponsorship aspect to generate more income for the league. This included calendars and business sponsorships to get the ball rolling, but it was the 10 days at the Lilac Club leading up to Labor Day weekend in 2025 that sealed the deal.

“That really put us over the top to look into better options,” Wood said. “We were thinking of a chain link fence at first, with padding, but once we got that charity partnership with the casino, we set our sights on something pretty.”

When Alton Youth League volunteers applied for the partnership with the casino, the agreement stated funds would be specifically for the wall replacement. Wood said a board member works for the City of Rochester, and heard two years earlier about a casino coming. They started putting out messages to the company early, and were able to secure a great time slot, in the summer during the holiday.

Nobody from Alton Youth League needed to be at the casino for fundraising efforts, either. Wood said a percentage of profits each day went to their cause.

“They had our logo up, and we put out the word within our league and the local community telling people about it, and that if they play those dates, we’d get the support,” Wood said. “It went better than we could have expected.”

Wood said a 50% deposit has been put down to have the “Champion Wall” by CMI Limited installed by Sports Edge. She said the wall will be eco-friendly, made of 95% recyclable material, which is an interlocking synthetic vinyl sheet with a 50-year lifespan.

With funds approved by the selectboard, and assistance from by the town’s public works and water departments secured for demolition and installation work, this dream will soon become a reality.

“It is real,” Wood said. “It is actually happening. It has been a dream for so long. So much time talking about it. It is really surreal that we’re able to do this.”