Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation director Butch Kisiah has recommended that the town immediately begin demolition of the wooden light poles at Cedar Falls Park ball fields. Play has been stopped at the field pending the town's action.

An inspection team surveyed light poles on ball fields and tennis courts at Cedar Falls Park, Culbreth Park, Ephesus Park and Hargraves, and problems with all the wooden poles "demand our immediate attention," Kisiah said to the town's staff in a memo.

Seven of 26 poles physically tested for wood deterioration, primarily at Cedar Falls Park, were deemed below strength, "one of the seven was determined to be unsafe and a dangerous hazard," the memo stated.

Upon receipt of the report, CHP&RD took the immediate action of relocating all baseball and softball league play to other areas. At its May 21 meeting, the Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation Commission unanimously approved the immediate demolition of the wooden poles inspected at Cedar Falls.

"All of our fields have been loved to death. They're at the end of their useful life," Kisiah said in a telephone interview. "A lot of things need to get done to straighten things out, and it's going to be a long recovery period."

Kisiah said Parks and Rec had sufficient funds left in its budget to begin demolition, but would need passage of the town's proposed 2008-2009 fiscal year's budget before undertaking renovations or replacements. The proposed budget, scheduled for a Town Council vote in June, would appropriate $400,000 for capital improvements that include some lights. That would be enough for lighting on three of the existing four Cedar Falls fields.

None of the current lighting on any of the town's baseball or softball fields met engineering standards for adequate lighting, as specified by Little League Baseball and the American Softball Association, Kisiah said. The Homestead fields, the most recent athletic park constructed by Chapel Hill, are the only facility in the town without at least one wooden light pole, he noted.

"It is important to note that Little League Baseball Inc. banned wooden poles from all fields in 1994," Kisiah wrote to Town Manager Roger Stancil.

Summer arrives at CHP&R

The Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation Department has opened registration for many of is summer activities, including youth and adult tennis classes and a Quick Draw Tennis Tournament for children 10 and under on July 12; Ultimate Frisbee camp for boys and girls 10-16; youth summer league basketball for ages 10-18; the Adult Coed Softball League; youth flag football (ages 5-6) and youth tackle football (ages 7-12). Please call the Chapel Hill Parks & Recreation Department, 968-2784 for more information.

Bouncing back

After just missing out on qualifying for the U.S. Open earlier this month at River Landing, Reed Darsie bounced back to finish second in sectional qualifying for the CGA's North Carolina Amateur Championship. Darsie carded a three-under 69 Thursday at Brier Creek in Raleigh to end up two strokes behind medalist Kevin O'Connell of Cary on the list of 17 qualifiers.

Two other young golfers from the Chapel Hill area -- David Holzworth (76) and Jeff Jamieson (77) -- barely missed the cut at 74. Four more sectional qualifiers remain before the 48th N.C. Amateur Championship June 12-15 at Raleigh Country Club.