Beavers family hosts grand opening for The Beavers Dam sports complex on Granville Pike

LANCASTER — Beavers Field has hosted more than 5,100 baseball games since Al Beavers opened it in 1991 at 1651 Granville Pike. The field now shares its 13 1/2 acre site with The Beavers Dam, a new indoor sports center that will be open all year.

Beavers and his grandson, Tyler Sisson, opened the center in May, but hosted its official grand opening on Thursday with an open house.

"Actually, it (center) turned out to be a lot nicer than either one of us thought it would be," Beavers said. "You have it down on paper and you engineer the whole thing and you hope it turns out like you plan it. Well, when you're dealing with 14 different contractors and get it done in about eight months, you didn't know how it was going to turn out. But there's nothing like this around here. It's something that's needed."

The new sports center offers baseball and softball instruction along with football, soccer, lacrosse and field hockey instruction on a 100 feet by 60 feet FieldTurf surface.

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"We're trying to do pretty much any sport we can, is our goal," Sisson, a former college baseball pitcher, said.

The center also has a weight room open to the public 24 hours a day for a membership fee.

Beavers said The Beavers Dam is usually booked for each weekend and is already booked for the winter with baseball and softball teams, among other customers. Sisson said 16 baseball and softball travel teams have rented it this winter.

"It's just something I'm very proud of and the way it turned out," Beavers said. "We're a true complex here now and not just a baseball field."

City police officer Jay Delgado is one of The Beavers Dam instructors. A former college football and baseball player, he specializes in teaching football, along with speed and agility.

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"One of the things growing up I relied on was the skill and talent that I had," Delgado said. "I never put any effort or time to train in the off season. So my big belief is that enhancing someone's performance by off-season training with speed and agility work on explosiveness, quick feet and full-work mechanics is very, very important and heightens your performance on the field when it comes to the season."

The baseball field and the new indoor center both sit on county-owned land.

"Obviously, Al Beavers and others in his organization have done just a great job," commissioner Dave Levacy said. "It's been a major asset to Fairfield County and we at the Fairfield County commission are willing to help him. We're just so thankful for all of the efforts that have been put forth to make that a first-class operation."

jbarron@gannett.com

740-304-9296

Twitter: @JeffDBarron

This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Beavers family hosts grand opening for The Beavers Dam sports complex