The Birmingham Parks and Recreation Committee on Monday proposed building an additional softball field at George Ward Park as a form of compromise for residents concerned about losing softball fields if a Major League Baseball Youth Academy is built at the park.

Last week, MLB officials said they are “reassessing” building a youth academy at George Ward Park after some members of the Glen Iris neighborhood expressed concerns about the academy to MLB officials.

Birmingham City Council Pro Tem William Parker, who serves on the park board, led discussions about the new field during Monday’s special called meeting. The new field would sit adjacent to the existing softball field in the lower part of the park where a surface parking lot, accessible from Green Springs Highway, currently stands.

A new surface parking lot would have to be built on top of green space near the dog park. The construction might also require the dog park to shift slightly in order to not affect the size of the dog park.

Parker said this project could cost the city around $1 million. He suggested using surplus city funds to pay for it.

Here's a rough sketch of where the new field would be, if approved. This is a conceptual drawing, NOT A FINAL DRAFT. pic.twitter.com/42FqGhPmle — Anna Beahm (@_AnnaBeahm) March 11, 2019

“Last week, we delayed the vote [on the MLB Youth Academy agreement] to figure out some additional ways to get everyone on the same page. If we had another softball field added to the inventory, that would help to make sure all users had facilities to operate at the same time,” Parker said.

Council President Valerie Abbott, who represents Glen Iris, said the proposed agreement for the MLB Youth Academy would displace thousands of people who currently use the softball fields at the park. She said it is used by “thousands.”

George Ward Park currently has six softball fields. The MLB Youth Academy agreement would allow the MLB to reconfigure the five softball fields at the top of the park into two little league/softball fields and two full-size baseball diamonds. This reconfiguration would reduce the number of softball fields from six to three fields.

Abbott, however, said she hopes this proposal to add another softball field will be a satisfactory compromise for Glen Iris residents who were opposed to the initial agreement between the city and the MLB.

In addition to Parker and Abbott, District 1 Councilor Clinton Woods and Council Crystal Smitherman also attended Monday’s meeting.

The council is planning to have public meetings next week to discuss the proposal to add the softball field. Parker said detailed maps will be available for residents to view.