For starters: Mickie Gordon Memorial Park gets its baseball field back for spring 2025

By Valerie Cury

At the Oct. 16 Board of Supervisors Business Meeting the Board voted 7-2 to move the special exception process forward endorsing Concept A for the renovations to Mickie Gordon Memorial Park, with Supervisors Kristen Umstattd (D-Leesburg) and Matt Letourneau (R-Dulles) voting against. 

Initiating the special exception process will allow the community to give feedback on what details they want and don’t want in the park, said Supervisor Laura Tekrony (D-Little River) who represents the Middleburg community. 

The community has unanimously weighed in and said they want a dawn to dusk park, and they want to keep the park roads and parking lots unpaved. The special exception process allows for community feedback, with conditions of approval, before it would go on the Capital Improvement Plan budget. 

Vice-Chair Juli Briskman (D-Algonkian) asked to split the motion in two. The second motion was to convert the cricket field back to baseball in time for baseball games in March 2025. This would be funded by using Parks Recreation and Community Services renovation program funds. 

Added to the second motion was a friendly amendment by Supervisor Koran Saines (D-Sterling) that staff work with Loudoun County Public Schools to identify an alternative location for a cricket field by March 2025. The motion passed 5-4 with Supervisors Umstattd, Letourneau, Saines, and Briskman, voting against.

Baseball had been played at Mickie Gordon Park for 50 years. But prior to that, the African American community used this area and called it Hall’s Park which they used for baseball and recreational activities. It was named after William Nathaniel Hall, and was home to the Middleburg Braves who played in the African American League. 

Steve Torpe, Parks Recreation and Community Services Director, said he was seeking guidance from the Board on the proposed improvements to Mickie Gordon Memorial Park. The plan was to initially add additional cricket amenities. However, the players would rather have cricket pitches closer to where they live and avoid such a long commute, he said. 

PRCS held four community meetings and made a commitment, said Torpe, to listen to the Middleburg community. 

The Middleburg community has asked for a light touch, said Gem Bingol, Piedmont Environmental Council’s Senior Land Use Representative, in citizen comments. “Less is more.”

This would include restoration of the baseball field, natural surface trails with signage depicting the deep history of the African American Community’s connection to the park—and maintaining the rustic beauty of the park.

A next door neighbor to the park said the plan did not reflect the input from the community. He said the residents want a low impact park—as it has a rural ag historic setting. What the county is offering, “is like asking me if I would rather get kicked in the knee, or get kicked in the shin—and I have to pick one. Please recognize the African American community that founded this Park.”

John Benedict spoke on behalf of the Board of Directors of Loudoun’s Future. Benedict asked for more modest improvements. “Mickie Gordon Park isn’t the place to spend $10 to $13 million for traditional recreational facilities—it’s really the wrong place for intensive use.” 

Benedict said the community wants some improvements and better maintenance, and “we really shouldn’t be treating all parks alike.” The community doesn’t want lights and they don’t want paved parking lots, he said. “People traveling here want a different experience.”

Larry Lloyd said it was out of control to again have to choose from three options the county has offered. “We have to get some results out of this. First of all, it’s the history of the park. No one mentions the history. It’s sad.

“It’s been neglected for years. Now we are asking you all to please make a decision and do the right thing.” Lloyd said Middleburg had a baseball team ready to play this summer and there were no games at Mickie Gordon because there was no baseball field, even though the community was told they were going to play at the park.

Said Lloyd, “I know we can get it done.”

Megan Gallagher asked the Board to make less costly improvements to Mickie Gordon Park. She said that the county should redirect the $10 million budgeted for improvements to serve residents who have been waiting years for cricket fields, and soccer fields closer to their homes. “The cricket community wants pitches close to them.”

“No paving, no lights. It doesn’t make sense in a park that’s a rural retreat.” Gallagher said the park should reflect “a rural historic rich experience in nature that won’t be anywhere else in the county—for all county residents who need a break in the west.”

Regina Banks, who grew up in Middleburg, said she spent a lot of time at Mickie Gordon Park growing up. “I would go to baseball games with my father. He was a pitcher for the Middleburg team. Mickie Gordon Park has been in our history, in our lives and in our family for years.”

Banks said it is “very important to get the baseball back to Mickie Gordon Park.”

Board of Supervisors Chair Phyllis Randall (D-At Large) said, as it stands the community will have two baseball fields—one of the fields will convert the cricket field back to baseball. There will be one cricket field that is smaller than standard.

Letourneau expressed concern that the cricket community will lose a lighted cricket field. He said there was a rush to move forward with Concept A. Umstattd said she also had a problem eliminating a cricket field. 

Since cricket has concrete with artificial turf, the field when converted back to baseball can’t be multi use, said Torpe. He said that the cricket community attended the meetings in Middleburg to advocate for cricket, but said they prefer to play elsewhere because of travel time.

Saines said it was not good to lose a cricket field and he wanted to see the field lit. Supervisor Caleb Kershner (R-Catoctin) said he favored returning baseball to the park. He noted there are 7 or 8 cricket fields being built elsewhere in the county. He said he didn’t want the driveways paved, and Concept A is too intensive—the park needs to be designed for the area.

Randall said she had attended at least three meetings. “I heard. They want the baseball fields back. In a room of 200 people, there were 10 who wanted something else.

“I don’t know why we are not listening to the constituents on this one. This is not that hard. In fact, the constituents have made it easier. I have seen the light [lighted field] and I don’t think those lights are that invasive at all—but if they are saying to me, they don’t want lights—don’t give us lights and save us some money—okay. I’m not going to force lights in the community that doesn’t want them.

“I can listen to the community on this one.” Randall said the original county plan was a mistake and it was corrected. The community attended four meetings— “Let’s listen to them, let’s listen to them.”

Randall said, “The population is calling for baseball fields. Why aren’t we respecting that voice?” She said it’s just like “we respect other voices when they say they do want pickleball or we do want cricket. Why aren’t we respecting those voices?”

“We will have two baseball fields—put the baseball fields back and have one cricket almost to regulation size—is appropriate.” Randall said it’s reasonable and a nice compromise.

Tekrony said the baseball field will be restored and ready for use and ready for spring baseball in late March 2025. “This is Middleburg’s community park. I attended all the meetings and there were three unanimous requests,” she said. 

One was to restore the historic baseball field. Another request was to add multipurpose natural surface trails with interpretive signage and the other request was to maintain the natural rustic beauty of the rural park, said Tekrony. “Concept A needs to be more modest—try and maintain what is there.”

Letourneau argued that the park wasn’t a Middleburg park because it is in the county. “My problem is Concept A takes away one of the best cricket pitch in the county and replaces it with baseball which is light demand.” He said the process was rushed.

Replied Randall, “Mr. Letourneau taught me a term sometime ago which was ‘Paralysis by Analysis,’ when he says you take too long to do something. I don’t know how you can call something rushed when it has taken two years to do.

“It seems that systems break down when we talk about a certain part of the county and I’m going to say that I’m getting real tired of it,” said Randall.

Tekrony said the park is a community park for Middleburg. “We have community parks throughout Loudoun County and we listen to the community that is surrounded by the park.

She said she wants cricket players to be able to play closer to their homes. “It’s time to move this forward through the Special Exception process and begin the public engagement. There is work to do on Concept A. This moves it forward.” 

Tekrony said when it comes time to address the conditions of approval with the special exception, the supervisors can address lights and not paving the park roads.

 “The Pop Gordon field is historic. It is one of the oldest baseball fields in the region. So, I think it needs to come back.” Tekrony said, “If you build it, they will come. It was a forgotten park and the maintenance wasn’t there. We are going to take care of it. We are going to bring it back.”