Over the years, the Duneland Diamond Family has done a remarkable job of modernizing, rehabbing, and maintaining the baseball field in Chesterton Park, at the northwest corner of West Porter Ave. and South Fifth Street.
In season you’ll be able to find a game there virtually every day of the week, and what a grand way that is to spend a lovely summer afternoon: The crack of the bat, a soft sweet breeze, and birdsong.
Mind you, Duneland Diamond has received generous support from a number of community organizations and civic-minded businesses—Chesterton-Porter Rotary, for example, Rebuilding Together Duneland, Chesterton Duneland Kiwanis—but if you’re interested in a great example of sweat equity, of kids and their parents really putting their backs into it, then look no further than Duneland Diamond, whose director, Dan Amling, has a knack for getting the best out of folks.
At Chesterton Park Board’s meeting Tuesday night, Feb. 4, Amling made his annual report on the highlights of the 2024 season and his plans for the 2025 season.
Last year, Amling said, Duneland Diamond undertook Phase I of what amounts to a reconstruction of the infield: Sod was removed and graded, with the help of a Bobcat and labor provided by Alpha Storage; two semi-loads of debris removed, courtesy of L.A. Bell Motor Lines; and four loads of clay and topsoil applied, kudos to R.V. Sutton.
The Duneland Diamond Family then began regrading—“intensive regrading,” Amling told the Park Board, “regrading and more regrading”—before planting seed and laying fertilizer (at a cost of around $1,000 in donations).
Meanwhile, the Chesterton Duneland Kiwanis Club planted and maintained the corner planter as well as a lily garden by the first-base dugout. “It’s beautiful,” Amling noted. “They really know what they’re doing.”
Other work done in 2024:
*Side rails were installed on the bleachers.
*A gate was installed for the shed extension.
*All the trees on the west side of field were pruned.
*The pole for the foul netting was extended “to protect traffic and pedestrians” from errant balls.
This year, Amling said, Rebuilding Together Duneland will assist with the landscaping of the triangle between the basketball courts and the outfield fence, with decorative trees obtained through a NIRPC grant, hostas and mulch, a brick border, and a bench facing south. “The mowers can’t get in there,” he noted. “This will make it a low- or no-maintenance area.”
Among other projects eyed by Amling for 2025:
*Landscaping by the new scoreboard, flagpole, and shed.
*Overseeding and fertilizing the outfield grass in an effort to bring the battle to the crabgrass, clover, and creeping Charlie.
*Completing the infield reconstruction, including a reset of home plate and the pitching rubber, a regrade of the circles, and the re-cut of the base paths.
For the record, five Duneland Diamond teams used the field last year (three 14U squads and two 16U squads) and three adult league teams. Except for the summer break, the field was occupied, for all practical purposes, seven days a week during the season.
“Thank you for all your hard work out there,” Member Wendy Marciniak told Amling. “That corner always looks so nice. It’s a prominent spot in town. It’s nice to drive by and see it. It’s so good and active all the time. So thank you!”