Thursday, NOVEMBER 6, 2025 |
Photo – Example of concession stand – Courtesy City of Rawlins
Rawlins officials say it’s unlikely the VFW baseball fields will be ready in time for next year’s Little League tournament.
In 2023, then-Rawlins Parks and Recreation Director Jason Sehon announced the Wyoming Little League Association had agreed to host a statewide tournament in Rawlins in 2025. However, the VFW baseball fields, located at the corner of Rodeo and Daley Streets, were in such poor condition that city staff could not prepare them in time for the upcoming games. The state Little League Association agreed to postpone the tournament until the following year.
Currently, the six-day, 12-team tournament is scheduled for July of 2026, giving the city more time to revitalize the neglected VFW baseball fields. Last year, the governing body allocated $200,000 for improvements to the facility, with the funds evenly split between asphalt repairs and field renovations. While the fields are considered ready for play, the complex lacks bathrooms and a concession stand.
During Tuesday’s Rawlins City Council meeting, Public Works Director Cody Dill presented two concession stand proposals from Alpine Meadows Design, an engineering firm based in Evergreen, Colorado. Dill said he had hoped to include a third option that used shipping containers, but Alpine Meadows was unable to design a permanent structure with that approach.
Both completed designs used a 19-by-24-foot structure but featured different roofing options: one with a simple gable roof, the other with a more complex clerestory roof incorporating a row of windows above the main roofline. Public Works Director Dill recommended going with the cheaper gable roof.
Dill explained that both designs were developed to stay within an estimated maximum budget of $200,000. With $100,000 set aside for field upgrades and another $100,000 for asphalt repairs, the Public Works Director said the city would need to commit an additional $200,000 to build the concession stand and bathrooms. However, the project is unlikely to be completed before next year’s Little League tournament.
Dill said he still has approximately $160,000 left from the $200,000 field and asphalt repair budget. With the majority of the field upgrades finished, Mayor Jacquelin Wells instructed the Public Works Director to use the remaining money to install new water and sewer connections to the concession stand site.
Councilman Steve Sanger questioned the rationale behind spending more than $400,000 on improvements to the VFW fields, which will only see significant use during next summer’s Little League tournament.
Dill acknowledged that the VFW fields are unlikely to be ready by next July and suggested asking the Wyoming Little League Association to postpone the tournament until 2027.
Vice Mayor Darril Garner asked why Dill was not considering making the concession stand and bathrooms out of shipping containers, which would presumably be cheaper and faster than building from the ground up. Dill responded that the engineering firm was unable to develop a permanent design using shipping containers.
Vice Mayor Darril Garner said his research showed that some companies offer prefabricated buildings, such as bathrooms and concession stands, made from shipping containers, adding that the structures should already comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Dill said the shipping containers would require extensive modifications to meet the city’s needs and be ADA compliant. The Public Works Director said the engineering firm was hesitant to approve a design they had no prior experience with.
Vice Mayor Garner recommended consulting with a different engineering firm.
Councilman Steve Sanger said other communities across the country have successfully used shipping containers for similar projects. Sanger suggested that Dill and the engineering firm might be overcomplicating the issue.
Councilman Steve Sanger added that container-based buildings would be easier to maintain than a conventional facility. Public Works Director Cody Dill responded that modifying the containers to meet the city’s needs would be more time-consuming than constructing a purpose-built concession stand.
Vice Mayor Darril Garner referenced The Exchange in Fort Collins, Colorado, an area that uses repurposed shipping containers for retail, dining, and public gathering spaces. The Vice Mayor suggested that Dill consult with the engineers behind that project. The Public Works Director responded that revising the concession stand design will delay the VFW field upgrades even further.
The governing body recommended reaching out to the Wyoming Little League Association about moving the tournament from next summer to 2027. Rawlins Little League President Dawn Arce said the state association may be unwilling to reschedule, having already postponed the event once. Arce added that the association might request a firm completion date for the fields or choose to relocate the tournament altogether.
Interim City Manager Matt Hall offered to meet with the Wyoming Little League Association to request another postponement. In the meantime, the governing body directed Public Works Director Cody Dill to obtain estimates for installing new water and sewer lines at the concession stand site and to continue exploring the use of shipping containers.
