Saving Lamar Porter Field

— Agrotesque slab of asphalt now occupies the high-profile location along Interstate 630 in Little Rock that once was home to Ray Winder Field. That parking lot is being used as a source of motivation by a group of prominent Arkansans, which has stepped up its efforts to ensure that a similar fate doesn’t befall nearby Lamar Porter Field.

Lamar Porter Field is owned by the Boys & Girls Club of Central Arkansas. In late 2011, a group working in conjunction with that organization formed the Lamar Porter Complex Revitalization Committee. The committee not only plans to renovate the historic baseball field but also wants to fund improvements for the Billy Mitchell Boys & Girls Club, the Woodruff Gardens and adjoining recreation areas.

“The sadness of witnessing the demise of Ray Winder fills me with gratitude that Lamar Porter does not suffer the same fate,” says Little Rock sporting goods store owner Jay Rogers. “Lamar Porter is now the oldest usable field in the state of Arkansas, and excitement is in the air as we move from the planning stages to the actual renovation.”

Lamar Porter Field was constructed by the federal Works Progress Administration between 1934 and 1937. The concrete-and-steel facility was built to seat 1,500 spectators. At the time, with Arkansas and the rest of the country mired in the Great Depression, it was the only field in the state with electric lights. The field is between the state Capitol and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. It was the growing UAMS complex that gobbled up Ray Winder Field for a parking lot after it was sold by the city of Little Rock.

The 10-acre Lamar Porter Field site was given to what then was known as the Little Rock Boys Club in memory of Porter, who was born in August of 1913 in Little Rock. Porter was a junior at Washington and Lee University in Virginia when he died in an automobile accident on May 12, 1934.

Porter’s family donated the land and contributed money for construction of the field. The first anniversary of Porter’s death happened to be Mother’s Day. The donation was announced that day by his mother, Louise Skillern Porter; aunt, Pauline Skillern Jordan; and brother, Jim S. Porter Sr. Jim Porter’s son, who’s named Lamar Porter, is among the trustees for the revitalization committee.

“A memorial serves no purpose if it ceases to exist,” says the younger Lamar Porter. “This complex needs revitalization soon or it will meet the same fate as Ray Winder Field.”

Little Rock Catholic and Episcopal Collegiate high schools use Lamar Porter Field for home games. The field and an adjoining practice space also are the Little Rock home of a national program known as Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities, which is sponsored by Major League Baseball.

Most baseball fans in Arkansas know that Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson of the Baltimore Orioles played baseball as a boy at Lamar Porter Field. Portions of the movie A Soldier’s Story, starring Denzel Washington, were filmed at the field in 1984. In December 1990, the facility was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The adjoining Woodruff Community Garden is a neighborhood effort in which novice and experienced gardeners have plots.

The renovation project will add lights, security updates, a more secure gardening shed, a gate and fencing. There also will be restoration work on historic stone walls and bridges.

Improvements also will occur at the Billy Mitchell Boys & Girls Club, which is named after the man who became associated with the club in 1922 and began heading the organization in 1928. Mitchell, who had played basketball at Texas A&M, was connected with the club for more than 50 years. Construction of the current facility was completed in 1982.

A year ago this week, the revitalization committee announced that an anonymous donor had given a significant gift to begin the process of planning the renovation effort. A lot has happened since them. In January, representatives of Little Rock architectural firm Witsell Evans Rasco met with the committee. In August, the firm’s initial renderings for renovating the complex were approved.

Robinson agreed in September to become the honorary chairman of the revitalization committee. “Not only did I sharpen my baseball skills at Lamar Porter, I even once won a bubbleblowing contest there and proudly rode a new bicycle home,” he said at the time. “The memories of playing there and the friendships that I made have lasted all my life.”

On October 31, the Boys & Girls Club of Central Arkansas and the Lamar Porter Complex Revitalization Committee announced a partnership with the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation of Baltimore. The foundation was founded in 2001 by Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. and his brother, Bill Ripken, who also played professional baseball. Cal Ripken Sr., who died in 1999, had a 37-year career working with the Orioles. The foundation seeks to serve underserved youth across the country, using baseball as the hook to reach boys, and softball to reach girls.

The revitalization committee’s website at www.LamarPorterComplex.com contains updates on the work being done. The committee logo contains the words “heading for home.” With a master plan now in place, it’s a fitting motto as the committee moves into the fundraising stage, determined that Little Rock won’t see another historic treasure turned into a parking lot.

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Freelance columnist Rex Nelson is the president of Arkansas’ Independent Colleges and Universities. He’s also the author of the Southern Fried blog at rexnelsonsouthernfried.com.

Editorial, Pages 17 on 12/12/2012

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