Minneapolis Star Tribune — For anyone who remembers what it used to look like just a couple years ago, Pinecone Central Park has undergone a remarkable transformation.
Just a few years removed from being a closed golf course that the city of Sartell purchased in 2008, it is now a nearly complete youth sports mecca, the St. Cloud Times (http://on.sctimes.com/2eeUXL8 ) reported.
There are four meticulously preened youth baseball fields, specifically sized for children, with the base paths shorter and portable mounds made to be adjusted for the appropriate age group. And, there are plans for two more intermediate youth fields for ages 13-15.
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Behind the work for the city of Sartell is ProFields LLC, a start-up company by Brian Deyak ’89 of St. Cloud. Deyak helped manage the St. Cloud Municipal Athletic Complex for 26 years before resigning in the fall of 2015.
“I want to take a little of the MAC with me and help them get to that level,” Deyak said of the Pinecone Central Park project.
Deyak started working at the MAC part-time in 1982 as a high school student and became transfixed by athletic fields and field maintenance. He’s a St. Cloud Apollo and St. Cloud State graduate who made his career’s work overseeing the MAC’s two baseball stadiums, Joe Faber and Dick Putz Fields. He also took on restoring the Veterans Administration Golf Course, all the while managing about 70 part-time employees as a city of St. Cloud employee.
Read more: http://www.startribune.com/start-up-company-turns-sartell-park-into-youth-sports-mecca/398141171/
