CHARLESTON — If all goes as planned, volunteers will transform bowling balls into baseballs and 21 acres of vacant land into a sports park.

No, the Barview Area-Charleston Area Park Association members don’t have magical powers. But patience and persistence seem to be the next best thing.

For nearly 15 years the group has worked to build a sports complex by slowly fundraising and gaining community support.

In July 1997, the Coquille Indian Tribe gave BACAPA a 21-acre site for the sports complex.

This June, the association will open its first ballfield to little leaguers.

“They had nothing. They started with car washes and bake sales,” BACAPA secretary Alan Taylor said. “It’s really remarkable.”

Pointing to the entrance of the park off Libby Lane, Taylor said the gateway will include two bowling balls painted to look like baseballs to welcome players, spectators and families.

“We still got quite a bit of sprucing up work to do,” Taylor said.

The nearly completed little league field, known as the John & Anna Stephens Field, is only a temporary attraction at the complex, which some day will include two full-size American Legion baseball fields and two small little league fields, as well as hiking trails, outdoor basketball courts, a tennis court, picnic areas and other amenities. Taylor said the Stephens Field eventually will be replaced by an American Legion field. 

“In 2003, the board of directors decided to go ahead and build an alternate/temporary field to get one operational so kids could play,” Taylor said.

Volunteers say the number of baseball fields has decreased in the area as schools have closed through the years.

“There has been a major need in the entire Bay Area for ballfields. ... The little leagues around here don’t have many places to play,” BACAPA board president Dave Richards said.

He thinks the project is good for the community on several levels.

“Kids that are busy doing things aren’t getting in trouble.”

Additionally, he said, because the fields will be used for tournament play, more money should flow through the Barview/Charleston area, as families of players seek lodging and food.

“It’s a big boost for the entire economy for the area,” Richards said. “We’re certainly hoping that we’ll have a lot more places for the kids to play organized baseball. And we would also like to see the general public in the area recreating together.”

John Qualman, the president of the North Bend Independent Baseball Program — a little league for ball players who are 5 to 12 years old — said it’s possible some of the teams may use the field as a back up if others are unavailable. He said 170 children in 14 teams play in his program.

“There is a shortage of fields,” Qualman said. “I think it will be a nice resource to have. It’s just a matter of whether there is a resistance from the parents to make the drive to Charleston.”

He noted younger players are more likely to use the BACAPA ballfield, as it’s less windy than Airport Heights, where they usually play.

The effort is a family affair for Richards, as he and his mother, Dolly — the treasurer of the board — as well as his father, Art, who provides maintenance for the park, have been involved since the project’s inception. BACAPA was formed out of a neighborhood watch meeting organized by the Coos County Sheriff’s Office.

 “One of the big problems (we had was) kids were playing in everyone’s yard,” he said.

At the time, he coached little league and wanted a place to develop a couple of ballfields when his son, John, was still a pre-teen. John now is 29, a former minor league player and a representative for Ringor, baseball and softball footwear manufacturer in Wilsonville.

“We’re pretty much a baseball family,” Richards said.

Describing the work that already has been done on the property, including an expensive irrigation system, Richards estimates the group has invested about half a million dollars in the project. If BACAPA were to complete its overall plan tomorrow, it would need another $1.5 to 2 million.

Considering the time he and his family have put into BACAPA, Richards said he’s pleased children soon will be playing ball. He said he hopes to see the Coos Bay Coast League and the North Bend Little League’s all stars in dugouts by the first weekend of June.

“You’d think after 14 years that most everybody would know what is being built, but we are finding out that there are a lot of people that have no clue that we are even in existence,” Richards said. “I think once we get some games playing out there, we’ll start attracting more people and we’re hopeful we’ll get some more volunteers from that.”