Ground broken for new Ripken field in Essex

Baltimore County broke ground Monday on what will become the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation's latest Youth Development Park in Essex. As part of the planned $2.3 million upgrade, the grass field at The Fields at Renaissance Park will become a synthetic turf field, and there are plans to install an energy-efficient LED field lighting system, permanent seating stands, a scoreboard and expanded sidewalk connections. Officials said the illuminated synthetic turf field will provide greatly expanded and improved field sports access, allowing the field to be used into the evening or during or shortly after rainy weather.