The Tony Solaita Baseball Field gets a new lighting system thanks to a grant of close to $80,000 from the National Park Service (NPS).
Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata was notified of the grant award of $79,989 from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF).
The money will be used to replace the baseball grandstand spot-lights, and reset five stadium spot lighting systems.
LWCF funding is unique, as it is separate from NPS operations funding; instead, Congress appropriates these funds nationally from revenue received from various off-shore oil leases rather than other tax sources.
The field is named for Tolia “Tony” Solaita, who was born in Nu’uuli and was a trailblazing professional athlete from American Samoa. He had an extensive career as a Major League Baseball professional in the U.S., spanning 12 seasons, and several other professional seasons internationally.
“Congratulations to everyone involved with this project, along with any of our local parks and recreation efforts, and most of all, to our young athletes and spectators who enjoy this field,” said Uifa’atali.
The LWCF State & Local Assistance Program provides matching grants for local and state park projects outside national park boundaries. These grants help build and protect a “seamless system of parks” from back-yard to back-country.
Since 1965, the National Park Service has provided more than 40,000 such LWCF grants to communities.
