The complex will be housed at the former city dump, comprising 28 acres, which opened in 1973, and will cost an estimated $23 million, according to a press release from the Williamsport/Lycoming County Chamber of Commerce.

A number of state and local grants will help fund the project.

The origin of the field dates back to 2016, with the land purchased by the landholding entity in December 2019 from the former Susquehanna Supply and Danneker family properties, the release said.

“Williamsport Lumber Yards will be a seven field youth and collegiate baseball complex,” Williamsport/Lycoming County President and CEO Jason Fink said, adding that the field will host Pennsylvania College of Technology’s baseball and softball programs.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Workers from Seachrist Masonry lay a block wall for a structure at the Lumber Yards in Williamsport on Friday, July 25, 2025. The 28-acre facility off Maynard Street will include six lighted, synthetic turf fields for youth baseball and softball along with one 400 foot collegiate field.

The new complex proved instrumental when negotiating to bring Bass Pro Shop to the The District Cinema at Lycoming Valley, the site of the former Lycoming Mall.

“When we were talking with Bass Pro Shops about why they should be in Muncy, we shared with them the details on the Williamsport Lumber Yards. It caught their attention when we were talking to them about the approximate 400,000 people to 500,000 people that will walk through the gates here annually when it’s fully operational,” Fink said.

“We look forward to welcoming everybody back in the spring as we dedicate this and ESM as we jointly open the Williamsport Lumber Yards, and I can’t wait to see the first families arriving here to play ball,” Fink said.

State Sen. Gene Yaw, R- Loyalsock Township, lauded the project as an opportunity to turn around estimates of a declining population in the five counties in his district.

“A project like this really means a lot. What’s going on in Lycoming County right now is amazing,” he said, calling it one of the most aggressive he’d seen in the area in the last 50 years.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent This graphic shows the future layout of the Lumber Yards complex during a leading off ceremony dubbed “From Dump to Diamonds” at the Lumber Yards in Williamsport on Friday, July 25, 2025. The 28-acre facility off Maynard Street will include six lighted, synthetic turf fields for youth baseball and softball along with one 400 foot collegiate field.

“This is part of what’s going to change how people look at this area,” he said, relating it to other Maynard Street additions such as Chick-fil-A and Wawa, as well as the upcoming Bass Pro Shop, which is currently slated to open in 2027.

“I can’t wait to see the lights come on and the first games played here,” he said.

“Baseball isn’t just a pastime, it is a driver of our local economy. Every summer, the Little League World Series brings tens of thousands of families to town. They stay in our hotels. They enjoy our restaurants, they shop in our stores, and they leave with memories that last a lifetime,” said state Deputy for Travel and Tourism, Anne Ryan, noting that the annual tournament injects over $40 million into the local economy.

“But now we’re not talking about a couple of weeks. We’re positioning Williamsport to welcome over 500,000 visitors a year, and not just in August, but in the spring, summer and fall,” she said.

“This is not just an expansion, it’s a powerful economic engine that will fundamentally transform the region and the Commonwealth, because every ball tournament, every weekend series, every championship hosted here, means more families booking hotel rooms, more local jobs supported, and more small businesses seeing steady year round traffic,” Ryan said.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent This graphic shows the future layout of the Lumber Yards complex during a leading off ceremony dubbed “From Dump to Diamonds” at the Lumber Yards in Williamsport on Friday, July 25, 2025. The 28-acre facility off Maynard Street will include six lighted, synthetic turf fields for youth baseball and softball along with one 400 foot collegiate field.

“And for the players, this complex is more. It’s a launch pad for future all-stars and the next Chase Utley, Mo’ne Davis or Aaron Judge,” she added.

“Everybody here has some legacy of connection to baseball,” said state Rep. Jamie Flick, R- South Williamsport, who has been involved with Little League Baseball for 40 years, and is a part owner of the Sydney Blue Sox in Australia.

“My strength is human services and mental health, and this in itself connects to that. What could be better than intersecting tourism, children and youth and Human Services to keep people active, to keep people off drugs, and to get their mental health as strong as it can be,” Flick said.

“We have a theme going on in Lycoming County right now, a theme that I like to call natural fits. When Bass Pro Shops announced their location in Muncy, it was a natural fit for our community. Today we stand here in Williamsport, the home of Little League Baseball, again, another natural fit to our community,” said State Rep. Joe Hamm, R-Hepburn Township.

“I played baseball up on the top of Rose Street in a vacant lot, like the movie The Sandlot, and now we have the honor to see kids from all over the country play on pristine fields,” County Commissioner Chairman, Scott Metzger said.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent State and local dignitaries deliver comments during a leading off ceremony dubbed “From Dump to Diamonds” at the Lumber Yards in Williamsport on Friday, July 25, 2025. The 28-acre facility off Maynard Street will include six lighted, synthetic turf fields for youth baseball and softball along with one 400 foot collegiate field.

“Now as they come to the home of Little League Baseball, they’ll visit the museum, they’ll go there and see the complex, and they’ll play on the fields like they do in Cooperstown, but now they’ll play on them in Williamsport, Pennsylvania,” the chairman said.

“Today’s groundbreaking for these new ball fields highlights not only the construction taking place here, but that continuation of real economic momentum in our region, and this project will be a real game changer,” said city Mayor Derek Slaughter, whose father was a baseball umpire for 40 years.

“It’s an economic boom that we are all extremely proud of. This project isn’t just about baseball, it’s about continued growth throughout the Maynard Street corridor,” he said.

“Today, we stand on the ground that once represented the past, long used as a city dump, and together, we begin transforming it into a space that symbolizes the future, a transformative project that will provide a beautiful gateway into our great city and into Lycoming County and help recast us into more of an overnight destination,” offered Chamber Chairman Gabe Sinicropi.

“It represents the power of vision and the strength of community collaboration as this plot of land gets literally reborn as a field of dreams for the next generation. From waste to wonder, from landfill to launch pad, this ground is now getting a second chance,” Sinicropi said.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent State and local dignitaries take a swing at softballs and baseballs during a leading off ceremony dubbed “From Dump to Diamonds” at the Lumber Yards in Williamsport on Friday, July 25, 2025. The 28-acre facility off Maynard Street will include six lighted, synthetic turf fields for youth baseball and softball along with one 400 foot collegiate field.

“The Lumber Yards are a symbol of what our town stands for,” said Williamsport Visitor Bureau Chair Holly Kremser.

“It will bring families together, giving kids a place to grow, not only as athletes, but as teammates, leaders and friends. The fields will provide a safe and welcoming place for our kids to build character through sportsmanship and hard work. More than that, it will boost our level of confidence,” she said.

“Visitors will come to Williamsport, helping small businesses, supporting hotels and restaurants and helping us shine as a destination,” Kremser continued.

“The fields continue our legacy, keeping Williamsport at the heart of our baseball culture. Let’s recognize what these fields mean, not just today, but for the future. Here’s to a new beginning,” she concluded.

Following the remarks, those involved in the project put bat to ball, taking a ceremonial first swing into the site’s future.