NEWS INFORMATION FROM

THE OFFICE OF MAYOR STEPHEN R. REED
City of Harrisburg
King City Government Center
Harrisburg, PA 17101-1678
Telephone: 717.255.3040

FOR IMMEDIATE USE
16 January 2004

SKYLINE SPORTS COMPLEX ON CITY ISLAND NAMED ‘FIELD OF DISTINCTION’ BY LOCAL INDUSTRY GROUP

Harrisburg, PA—The multi-purpose Skyline Sports Complex recreation field on Harrisburg’s City Island was recently selected as a “Field of Distinction” by the Keystone Athletic Field Managers Organization, Mayor Stephen R. Reed today announced. The award is the highest honor for field maintenance and grounds-keeping, and will be presented to the city at a special awards banquet in late February.

Originally constructed under the Mayor’s Parks Improvement Program in 1988-89, Skyline Sports Complex serves as one of the most versatile recreation fields in the state. It is home field for the Central Penn Piranha minor league football team, as well as the new City Islanders professional outdoor soccer team, and it is heavily used throughout the year for softball, volleyball, karate tournaments, movies and more. The Complex seats more than 2500 and comes equipped with a press box, scoreboard, dressing rooms and concession trailer.

The Mayor said Skyline Sports Complex occupies the 7-acre site of the former city water filtration plant, which was abandoned after the 1972 Agnes Flood. The sprawling tract sat unused and blighted until Reed launched its restoration after Riverside Stadium was constructed. In addition to the main multi-purpose field that can be laid out for either football or soccer, the site also hosts a softball field, and the midstate’s largest sand volleyball court complex. More than 200 events are held at the site throughout each year.

Reed said the field is maintained by city Department of Parks and Recreation personnel, including Russell Corkle, Director of the Bureau of Parks Maintenance, and especially City Island Head Groundskeeper Kenneth Cook.

“Mr. Cook and the other members of the Parks and Recreation Department deserve our sincere appreciation,” said Mayor Reed. “Their good work benefits tens of thousands of Central Pennsylvanians and visitors to the midstate each year, and is often performed under difficult or very challenging circumstances, especially with regard to weather.”

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