CANARYVILLE — The Canaryville Little League ball diamond is ringed by a fence draped in ceremonial red, white and blue bunting.
Spread out among the infield is a reddish dirt that's reminiscent of the stuff used by the big leagues. Overhead, stadium lights and an electronic green scoreboard await the next big night game.
The outfield is spotless, except for a couple of bubble gum wrappers and Gatorade caps.
"Other teams come to play here and they say they really like it. They say it's the best ballpark they've ever played at," said John Kozlar, 25, the Bridgeport law student who transformed the South Side ballpark since taking over as the baseball league's president at the age of 19.
Casey Cora details how the tight-knit Canaryville neighborhood rallies behind keeping their little league park in great shape:
This year, the park at 45th Place and Normal Avenue is undergoing its biggest overhaul yet, a $60,000 project that completely transforms the area behind right field.
Now, what used to be a dilapidated lot with rundown basketball hoops and an overgrown tree has been turned into extraordinarily plush lawn that's designed for nothing else but kids' playtime.
"We had 20 people help lay that sod. There was an 8-year-old kid up to a 65-year-old guy," Kozlar said.
That new lawn is bordered by tall brick columns and soon, a big archway sign, to greet guests. Both are designed to evoke he feeling of entering a major league park.
Bob Poppe, 55, an off-duty Chicago firefighter and lifelong Canaryville resident, was working away at the bottom of one of those brick pillars, preparing for the installation of a gate.
An alum of the Canaryville Little League — "all mud, rocks and stones back then," he said — his three boys played there, too. Like many others in Canaryville, he's been volunteering his time as a way to give back.
"Oh, you always have to donate," he said.
Next to the new right field lawn are batting cages and a bullpen. And adjacent to that is a big wall that splits the ballpark from the nearby freight train tracks.
Earlier this week, two workers hired by the league were smoothing over some of the cratered wall and preparing for a big paint job.
If all that's not enough, the new right field "fan deck" might just catapult the South Side kids ballpark to one of America's best.
Measuring in at 825 square feet, the elevated platform overlooks the action on the diamond, sort of a party deck for the Little League parent crowd. (It's not the diamond's only seating — there are bleachers along the first-base line and guests are welcome to plop down on a nearby hill.)
The improvements, which should be completed after the Fourth of July holiday weekend, are all part of the community-building experience, Kozlar said.
Last year, workers installed a brick backdrop around the infield's perimeter and shored up the outfield. That's in addition to previous improvements like new fencing, bleachers and the electronic scoreboard, all paid for with concession sales and fundraisers throughout the year.
As word has spread about the league, Bridgeport and Canaryville parents have taken notice, leading to a record number of 450 kids enrolled in the summertime league.
"For perspective, in 2010 we had 280 kids," Kozlar said.
Walking around the field, Kozlar deflected much of the credit for re-energizing the league, originally founded in 1953.
"If you want to see what happens when the community comes together, this is the result," he said. "Everything we do here is about looking out for the future."
