The finishing touches are nearly complete on the revamped Coronado baseball field.

"It's coming along pretty good," second-year coach Russ Jaffey said. "We're just waiting for the snow to melt so we can finish up the rest of the stuff."

Jaffey is spearheading a $15,000 makeover of the field that will completely change the facility's look.

"If we can make our field better, it will attract people to it, and that will ultimately attract kids to our program," said Jaffey, who lives in the Holland Park neighborhood. "This is something that the kids at our school can take pride in." \

Among the upgrades and improvements:

** Converting the all-dirt infield into a grass and dirt playing surface by using sod from the outfield.
**Installing a 15-foot-wide warning track in the outfield.

• Building a 940-foot long, 6-foot high, chain link fence to enclose the field.
• 30-foot foul poles with screens down each line.
• Safety tubing across the top of the fence.
• A new sprinkler system. c Bullpen on visitor's side.
• A batter's eye in centerfield.
• Two new batting cage nets.

"Other schools in town have their own facilities - it's time we have ours," Jaffey said. "If we want to stay competitive, we have to compete."

Several area businesses are donating time and labor to help with the project. They include Manitou Cliff Dwellings, Applebee's Neighborhood Grill and Bar (495 W. Garden of the Gods Road), Holt Realty, Garden of the Gods Trading Post, Cog Railway, Rampart Plumbing, Cave of the Winds and Sigma Metals.

The new field will be asymmetrical: 336 feet down the lines, 410 feet to left-center field, 390 feet to center field and 375 feet to right-center field.

The school's football teams will be able to run practices in the baseball outfield on fields of 80 yards and 60 yards. Coronado will shift its home games from Spurgeon Field at Memorial Park. The move will save Colorado Springs School District 11 about $250 a game for use of Spurgeon Field.

Spurgeon Field has been the home facility of four of the five D-11 high schools - Mitchell, Wasson, Palmer and Coronado. Doherty has its own facility.
Jaffey hopes to recoup the upgrade costs of the field by selling signage along the outfield fence.

Jaffey has organized fundraising events, such as golf tournaments, to help offset the field improvement costs.
"My long-term goal is to add a home clubhouse and a bathroom," Jaffey said.

Jaffey also has upgraded his staff to include 11 assistants. They are: Bob Lizarraga (the head coach before Jaffey), Dan Peterson, Josh Millikan, Brian Millikan, Clark Stroh, Mike Fornier, Dennis Bates, Rick Boese, Chad Quirk, Jeremy Grine and Steve Gossage.

The annual Coronado baseball breakfast is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 24, at Applebees's on Garden of the Gods Road.