ST. CLAIRSVILLE — When the St. Clairsville baseball takes to the field on Wednesday for its home opener, it will do so somewhere other than the customary Memorial Park diamond.

Due to continuing work at the St. Clairsville Jr. Sports Complex, the Red Devils will make their home debut, and play the majority of their home season, on the recently refurbished Premiere Field at the North Market Street complex.

“The (St. Clairsville-Richland City) school district and the Park (District) Board were glad to partner with each other in coming together to install artificial turf on the infield portion of Memorial Park,” St. Clairsville Athletic Director Justin Clifford said.

The project came about, according to Clifford, after a $1 million grant was secured by the city for a turf project at the St. Clairsville Jr. Sports Complex. He said the city matched the funding.

In 2023, the St. Clairsville Parks and Recreations Department applied for a grant that was written through the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, which the grant was a 50/50 match grant. The project is a $1 million adventure, which the ODNR and the National Park Service, another organization Parks & Recreation had the grant written through, awarded the department the full amount.

“Since the company was already on-site at the Junior Sports Complex, they said they could give us a decent deal in applying turf to the infield at Memorial Park,” Clifford noted. “It all worked out in our favor.”

When does he anticipate the Red Devils playing at their natural home?

“That’s the golden question right now. Obviously, the infield turf has been laid here. It’s ready to go,” he replied. “We’re going to play at the Jr. Sports Complex. Whenever the work is completed on the bottom field here, they will begin work at Memorial Park. The winter weather didn’t help. They are a little behind here.”

Forever Lawn, of Canfield, is the main contractor.

Clifford noted, however, that everything depends on the weather.

“Our winter was really bad with the snow and such,” he said. “Nobody could work on the fields for weeks at a time. It’s not the ideal situation, but going forward we will have six fields with all-turf infields in the city of St. Clairsville. You can’t complain about that.”

Clifford said the city wants the school to continue playing at Memorial Park, and the school wants to continue playing there.

“It’s such a great facility. The dugouts are brand new and with it being in a bowl down below everything, it’s nice,” he continued. “It’s a great place to play baseball and the park district has been great to work with.”

Clifford said the dimensions are about the same.

“It’s 300 (foot) down the lines at the Jr. Sports Complex and 350 in center with a 10-foot fence,” he said. “At Memorial Park, it’s a short porch in left, but then it goes directly out to deep center. We’ve played here for years and it’s not a home run derby.”

The Red Devils hadn’t stepped a foot on the Premiere Field turf until Tuesday.

“They’ve been practicing on the football field. They’ve had a couple of scrimmages away and they’ve gone other places,” Clifford added. “It’s not ideal, but everyone is working together.”

St. Clairsville will host Martins Ferry, weather permitting, on Wednesday, April 2, at 5 p.m.