A dozen youth sports facilities from Champlin to Minneapolis scored big last week when they won grants of up to $275,000 for construction or improvements through Hennepin County's youth sports program.
The program, funded by the 0.15 percent sales tax enacted in 2006 to build Target Field, added a new wrinkle: smaller grants to equip various facilities with needed amenities, such as pitching machines, scoreboards or fencing.
Such grants "made it possible to fund a broader array of youth sports programs," Commissioner Gail Dorfman said.
In all, $2.15 million was awarded in the fourth round of grants since the Hennepin County Board began the program in 2009. Since then, the county has made grants totalling $8.9 million to 70 projects.
Excess revenues from the ballpark tax also are used to extend hours at Hennepin County libraries.
Commissioners made the final choices from a list prepared by the Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission (MASC), which the county pays $65,000 annually to administer the grant selection process.
The board unanimously approved the choices after including a last-minute entry by Board Chairman Mike Opat, who proposed $100,000 to help Brooklyn Park build a wheelchair-accessible softball field at Northwoods Park. The $600,000 project, which is still raising money, also has received city funding and a Twins/Pepsi grant.
The board had earmarked $250,000 for the smaller equipment grants, but wound up spending only $105,000 because several groups mistakenly applied for personal-use items, such as helmets, that aren't covered by the program, said Steve Olson, MASC's chief operating officer and youth sports program director.
