$16M renovation, expansion of Tuckahoe Little League complex planned

The Tuckahoe Little League complex will undergo a major upgrade and expansion as part of a $16-million project that will include the addition of new fields and lighting.

Those upgrades will include two new 12-and-under turf baseball fields with lights, a new park access road, and a new entrance off of John Rolfe Parkway with a shared use path, according to Henrico Chief of Staff Cari Tretina.

“Having pedestrian connectivity north and south will be a huge improvement,” Tretina said.

The new lighted fields will greatly improve the league’s scheduling flexibility, Tuckahoe Little League President Brydon DeWitt told the Citizen. The two new fields will increase the total number of fields at the complex to 16.

“The lights are very valuable,” DeWitt said. “It’s almost like having an extra field when we have the lights, especially during fall ball, when we start losing daylight.”

According to DeWitt, the new fields also are necessary to compensate for the growing number of Little League players after the COVID-19 pandemic. Between 2019 and 2022, spring baseball enrollment increased from 1,150 to 1,400 players, while fall ball enrollment increased from 450 to 806 players.

“Especially in March, April, and May when we get all of the rain and bad weather, the turf fields will help us still be able to have games,” Dewitt said.

Other upgrades coming to the facility will be a new restroom building, a playground, picnic shelters, batting cages, and a rebound wall, Tretina said.

Tretina said Henrico Recreation & Parks has been working with nonprofit player development organization Tuckahoe Sports Inc. and Tuckahoe Little League on a master plan since 2016 (when a bond referendum that included funding for the project passed), granting $16 million toward upgrades in the park.

“We never want to move forward with a project that the users don’t also see the value of,” Tretina said.

Officials said Henrico Recreation & Parks officials also are contemplating some other upgrades to the park if the county's budget allows for them.

“We are just unsure at this point because of all of the construction costs,” Tretina said.

The project, as currently planned, will be underway in June and completed sometime in the summer of 2024, she said.