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A green, well-lighted place By all accounts, Ashland's North Mountain Park is gorgeous, but some neighbors say the lights are too much By JOHN DARLING ASHLAND - The city's new North Mountain Park, now illuminated at night, has proven a big hit with sports teams - and set some neighbors on edge. "The players have to pinch themselves because they just can't believe it. It's beautiful, a spectacular place to play, set among dramatic skies, mountains and trees," says Ashland Soccer Club coach Greg Howe. "Its surfaces are a delight because they're so flat, well-drained and well-maintained. It makes you play like a pro." The huge, grassy park boasts one soccer field, two baseball fields and two softball fields, with two more soccer fields overlaid on baseball outfields in spring and fall. The park is flanked on the north by a city nature preserve, garden, creek and Grizzly Peak. "It's incredible - like going to church," says ASC coach Brad Roupp. "It's one of the most beautiful places in the world with all the wildlife, birds and deer. It's much better than the other parks (Hunter and the YMCA-City Park). It's laid out so nicely that there's a lot of interaction and feeling of community among soccer and baseball teams. Players of one sport, when they finish, will watch the other sport." The field opened last fall and, after controversy among neighbors, astronomers and environmentalists over lighting the entire park in the evenings, the city decided to illuminate only the east soccer field, furthest from neighboring homes, with four light towers, which were lit for the first time last month. The lights cost $67,500, of which $25,000 was pledged by ASC. The illuminated field also features two small metal bleachers and an electronic scoreboard. The park was graded from a scruffy flood plain, given a layer of sand for drainage and seeded with grass. Other city playing fields were graded from native earth and have often gotten soggy in the wet season, Roupp says. Depending on the season, the fields and diamonds are used six or seven days a week by American Legion baseball, Amateur Softball Association, adult baseball leagues, Ashland Babe Ruth, Ashland High School baseball, softball and soccer teams and Ashland Soccer Club's women and coed teams, says Ashland Parks and Recreation Director Ken Mickelsen. "It's fabulous," says Julie Trivers, a player on the Volcanoes adult soccer team. "The grass is all fresh and well-kept. It was so needed. We had a terrible field shortage in town. It really helps the growth of soccer as a lifelong sport for kids and adults." "It's like playing on a carpet," says Angelo Manti, a player on the Il Giardino Restaurant team. Manti grew up in Milan, Italy, where soccer fever is a part of daily life. "It's better than anything we had in Milan," he says. "It's totally deluxe," says Peggy Foster of the ASC women's team. "It's the nicest field I've ever played on. You get the feeling you're playing World Cup. We all want to take our shoes off and play." Some wish all fields could be as nice. "It's awesome - what I wished Fichtner-Mainwaring Park (in Medford) was - well-lighted with better turf," says Cynde Noyes of Medford, who plays on the ASC women's team. "You have a scoreboard and can play night games. It takes all the feeling of crowdedness away." Alex Stevens of the Rogue Valley Soccer Shop in Medford and a board member of ASC, says the complex stacks up with any of its kind in the region. "It's a beautiful place, really wonderful and on par with fields in Seattle and San Francisco," he says. "It's the only illuminated, legitimate soccer field in Southern Oregon. The only thing that's missing is more parking and more bleachers." Stevens says he hopes Medford follows suit with similar quality fields. Fichtner-Mainwaring, used by South Medford High School, and Hoffbuhr Field, used by North Medford High, are hampered by lack of lights, bleachers and scoreboard and because they were built for football, he says. While the players are enamored with the park, it has received mixed reviews from neighbors. "The park is attractive enough in the daytime, but at night when we're out on the deck entertaining, it'll be impossible to even look in that direction. We're going to have to plant a big tree to block it," says Elaine McBennett. "So far, it's not bothered us. The lights point downward at the field, so I haven't even noticed it," says Gayle Parlette. "I have a spectacular view, and it's been severely impacted," says Chappy Nelson. "The lights aren't good for the wildlife at the nature park, and it just seems things could be a lot simpler if we didn't try to make everything perfect for children today." John Darling is a free-lance writer living in Ashland. E-mail him at [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.