Little League moving into new regional headquarters

WARNER ROBINS — Skies were gray, but the inside of the new Little League International Southeastern Region Headquarters was all blue.

Little League employees unpacked boxes between sky blue-colored walls at the administration building Tuesday. After rainy weather delayed the original January move-in date, the first moving truck rolled up for delivery Saturday, said Jay Flesher, owner of Hybrid Corp. and the project’s manager.

Phone calls to the region headquarters are being diverted to Little League International this week as the Warner Robins staff settles in.

“We’re trying to take these few days and get everything put away,” Southeastern Region Director Jen Colvin said. “We’d rather be all set up and ready to go.”

The region headquarters will be bustling soon enough. As each state’s opening weekend kicks off, staff members will be busy assisting Little League volunteers in running their programs. The Southeastern Region consists of eight states — Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia — and the staff oversees just under 1,000 leagues.

Located on Snellgrove Drive, the 10,450-square-foot red brick administration building overlooks the frame of what will be a stadium for baseball and softball regional tournaments. The whole facility, which also includes a retail building, concession stands and a maintenance structure, cost $5.5 million.

The administration building was based on plans for the Southwestern Region Headquarters in Waco, Texas, although the Southeastern Region Headquarters is larger, Flesher said.

The building, which will house five employees, includes a large training room, as well as general offices and rooms for storage and files. Much of their supplies were in storage while the staff temporarily worked out of an office in Perry.

While the continued rain has been troublesome for construction — close to 38 inches have fallen since October, at times stalling work — it could be worse, Flesher said. While digging up red clay for the stadium, which is 23 feet below ground, crews hit sand after 17 feet. The sand does not hold onto water like red clay.

“We’re not so blessed with the amount of rainfall we’ve gotten, but we’ve been blessed we had sand,” he said, noting the sand also can be used as a field mix.

Plans call for the stadium to be finished in April. Once complete, it will seat up to 5,000 fans.

The former headquarters was in Gulfport, Fla.

To contact writer Jennifer Burk, call 256-9705.