VISTA —— PetCo Park it may not be, but for Vista American Little League teams, a new park it is.
The spring baseball season will be in full swing Saturday for youth baseball teams at a new temporary home field: Breeze Hill Park in Vista.
The teams have been relocated to the park since the closure last month of the league's longtime home.
French Field, a 10-acre park used by Vista area youth baseball and softball teams for more than 20 years, was closed in January pending the results of tests for lead in the soil and groundwater from a creek on and around the property.
"Testing has been completed, but we have not received the results yet," said Steve Dunn, the city's director of administrative services. "We expect (the results) any time now, but we do not anticipate any play on the field this season."
The closure has forced the relocation of 22 teams that used the field for games and practice.
More than 30 league volunteers and board members worked over the past several weeks to make the Breeze Hill park compliant with Little League standards in time for the season, adding fences around each field, building mounds and covering dugouts.
Not forgetting the subtleties of enjoying a ballgame, volunteers even added a snack-bar trailer.
The league is seeking donations to offset the cost of the move and field preparation. The Vista Fire Department has donated $1,000 to help with league relocation costs.
"We hope to get more people to donate," said Rick Smith, the league's public information officer. "The snack bar at French Field really helped with our funds, and with a smaller trailer, we've had to cut down what we're selling."
Vista American Little League opening day starts at 10:00 a.m. Saturday at Breeze Hill Park, 645 S. Melrose Drive, Vista. Games begin at 1:30 p.m.
The league's permanent home, French Field, sits atop an inactive county landfill used from 1944 to 1967 as a disposal and waste-burning site for trash from North County. After the landfill closed in 1967, and the cities of Oceanside and Vista became part owners of the property. Vista later sold its stake back to Oceanside, which now owns the property and leases it to Vista for use as a ballpark.
Preliminary testing that revealed the higher lead levels was ordered by the California Water Quality Control Board as part of an examination of closed landfills.
City officials said there has been no indication that any health problems have been caused by lead exposure on or near the field.
"We don't want to take any chances, the field will remain closed as a precautionary measure until the state (water quality control) board certifies the results," Dunn said.
Contact staff writer Anne Riley-Katz at ariley-katz@nctimes.com.
