KIRKWOOD, Mo. – Eric Eickmeyer is devastated by the news that the city of Kirkwood plans to demolish the Marshall Road athletic fields.
“If I had to put a number on the number of people who have been in this park, it would have to be in the millions,” the former Kirkwood Athletic Association director said.
Eickmeyer says the association was unable to recover from a series of unrelated challenges.
Flooding in 2019 was costly; the pandemic killed revenue in 2020; and a lawsuit involving accusations of misconduct resulted in the association being unable to purchase insurance.
“It was kind of three strikes and you’re out,” he said.
The property was turned over to the city of Kirkwood. During a recent council meeting, the city approved a bid for demolition of the fields. The ballfields have sat dormant for the last few years.
“I’m disappointed that the city has decided that the flooding is too much of a problem for them to handle when we handled flooding situations for 60 years,” Eickmeyer said.
“My kids and grandkids played there,” Joe Godi, former Kirkwood city council member and current resident, said. “I was there many, many nights.”
He’s already contacted current council members, expressing concerns over what the city plans to do with the property. A city spokesperson said the city has yet to determine what will happen with the property.
“It’s a shame,” Valley Park resident Brian Feldhues said. He routinely drives by the fields where weeds are now growing and wishes kids were playing baseball on the fields.
“Our greatest strength was our location, but that turned out to be our greatest weakness too because the river is literally right across the road,” Eickmeyer said.
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