LAKEWOOD RANCH — A company with deep roots in Manatee County and a long reach into the sports world is planning a 17,000-square-foot indoor sports training facility and manufacturing operation.
C&H Baseball, which most recently provided and installed netting and field wall padding at the new Yankee Stadium and at the Minnesota Twins’ Target Field, has been looking to open a facility at Lakewood Ranch for years.
The new $1.5 million facility would include six indoor batting cages, an infield practice area with artificial turf, training exercises, weightlifting and workout regimens, said Operations Manager Torrey Spears.
“It will be open to the public and to anyone who wants to learn or practice the game of baseball,” Spears said.
Any level of baseball, from Little League on up, including traveling teams could use the facility, he said.
“It will be very accessible to Bradenton-Sarasota,” he said.
The company first became involved in the baseball world in 1968 when a hitting coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates brought in a design for a portable aluminum batting cage. At the time, the company was named C&H Welding & Metals.
“For 38 years, C&H Baseball has adapted, modified, manufactured and distributed portable batting cages and aluminum field equipment throughout the country. In that time, five different styles of portable batting cages and multiple styles of fielding screens were developed to meet the needs of professional, college and high school baseball programs,” according to the company’s website.
In 1992, the company changed its name to C&H Baseball and began to design, supply and install its equipment in stadiums throughout the country. The company also supplies barrier nets, batting tunnels and artificial turf.
Rob and Danielle Huff bought the company about 10 years ago,
C&H has nine full-time employees at its current manufacturing facility at 2215 60th Drive E., near Flowers Bakery, Spears said.
He was uncertain about plans to expand staffing when the new facility is expected to open in September at 10615 Technology Terrace, near the Dan and Corrine McClure Center housing United Way of Manatee County and the Manatee Chamber of Commerce.
A groundbreaking is set for 1 p.m. Friday on property the company bought in 2005.
Soccer, golf, and lacrosse are among the other sports that could use the property.
“This gives us an opportunity to get more involved in the community in relation to sports,” Spears said. “We will be able to give back to the community that has given to us.”
Dooley Mack has been chosen general contractor, C & M Road Builders Inc. will do the land preparations, and Turner Tree & Landscape will do the landscaping, keeping those jobs in the community, Spears said.
Candice McElya, spokeswoman for Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, developer of Lakewood Ranch, said the facility will provide another important amenity to the community.
SMR is looking at building an amateur sports complex on 200 acres near the Lakewood Ranch Post Office, the geographic center of the community, McElya said.
In the beginning, the proposed facility would be geared toward soccer and other large organized sports events. The complex would eventually have ballfields, concessions and locker rooms.
“It’s definitely something we want to bring to the Ranch, sooner, rather than later,” she said.
The Ranch already hosts one of the area’s largest soccer events at the Sarasota Polo Grounds, but those facilities are not available during polo season, she said.
McElyea pointed to the example of rowing events at Nathan Benderson Park, which attracts spectators and team members numbering in the thousands.
During a recent collegiate regatta, hotels and restaurants at Lakewood Ranch reported a sharp upturn in business, McElya said.
For more information, visit www.chbaseball.com.
James A. Jones Jr., East Manatee Editor, can be reached at 745-7021.
