BUNCOMBE, IL (WSIL) -- A Johnson County school is hoping a long-awaited project will help bring more pride to their town.
Buncombe Consolidated School sits between Goreville and Vienna.
In Johnson County, between Goreville and Vienna, sits the town of Buncombe where school pride is prominent within the walls of its grade school.
"The people that go here are very connected to this community," said Kerley.
But the condition of the school's ball field is ‌little to be proud of.
"It's probably been sitting with probably nothing being done to it for about 15 years," said Kerley
Thanks to the school and its PTO, that's going to change soon.
"They've gotten to the point where they're ready to start some renovations," said Kerley.
According to Kerley, Buncombe had a baseball team around the early 90s but in the late 2000s, the school started co-oping with Cypress Elementary School.
"It kind of went into disrepair at that point where they quit playing games on it, they quit practicing on The grass grew up and time took its toll on the field," said Kerley.
But with fundraising efforts by the PTO, work will soon begin to bring the field back to life.
"They've got some parents who ar going to volunteer some time and replace the dugouts, till up the infield, put in a new home plate and new base anchors," said Kerley.
The PTO made it a priority to raise money and they've collected around $1,500. Kerley says the current condition of the field isn't the first impression he wants to make.
"It's the first thing you see when you pull into the building," said Kerley. "It's the first impression of the district as you're coming down Main street. I think it's important that we get it renovated and make it usable for the community and for the youth league."
The hope is to transform the field into something the county can use for its summer programs
"We think the youth league will get a lot of use from it," said Kerley. "The younger kids, the t-ball and 8U where don't hit the ball very far. Obviously, the playground would come into play at about 160 feet. But usually, with those younger groups, that's not a big deal.
Officials with the PTO say they're still raising money to purchase sand silt for the infield, bases, anchors, and other equipment.
You can contact them on the school's page.
