Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion The roof and portions of the grandstand Coral Seymour Memorial Park, or Oiler Park, blew off during an episode of heavy wind gusts Saturday May 31, 2014 in Kenai, Alaska.

Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion The roof and portions of the grandstand Coral Seymour Memorial Park, or Oiler Park, blew off during an episode of heavy wind gusts Saturday May 31, 2014 in Kenai, Alaska.

Strong winds destroy roof, press box in Kenai park

  • By Rashah McChesney
  • Saturday, May 31, 2014 10:56pm
  • News

When a tin roof goes, everybody knows.

The sound was as unmistakable as it was loud when Ken and Cameron Cole and James Clark watched the wind lift the roof and walls off of the press box Saturday at Coral Seymour Memorial Park where the Peninsula Oilers are scheduled to begin their baseball season in a week.

“There were boards ripping, nails coming out. It sounded like tin shaking in the wind,” said Clark, general manager of the Oilers team.

A south wind was forecasted to blow through the central Kenai Peninsula Saturday with gusts up to 40 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service.

As the wind continued to gust through the park, whipping through screens and shaking plywood debris, the three stood looking at the disastrous scene in front of them.

The bathrooms and concession stand are covered in debris, chunks of the walls of the grandstand, and netting — though the grandstand itself is still standing.

The baseball players will arrive in town Thursday and the organization’s first game is scheduled for June 8 at 2 p.m.

“It’s frustrating,” Clark said. “We were making good progress. Now, the grandstands won’t be open this year, at all. We’ll have no PA system, no music, none of the fun stuff.”

The baseball team is run by the Peninsula Oilers Baseball Club, Inc., a non-profit that is barely breaking even each season, Ken Cole, vice-president of the club, said.

Each year, something falls victim to the wind, usually a section of the wall behind the outfield.

Some within the organization had been looking into purchasing disaster insurance as the group just finished repairing a section of the wall — but nothing has been purchased yet.

“We’re a day late and a dollar short,” Ken Cole said.

The two said they were hoping to have help clearing the debris from the park so the summer schedule could go on as planned.

“We have no budget for this stuff,” Clark said. “I’m not sure what this will do to our season.”

Reach Rashah McChesney at rashah.mcchesney@peninsulaclarion.com

More in News

A 2015 Ford Explorer that was stolen from the Kenai Chamber of Commerce before crashing into a tree near Wells Fargo Bank is loaded onto a tow truck in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Car stolen, crashed in Kenai

The car was reportedly taken from the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center.

U.S. Rep. Nick Begich III, R-Alaska, talks with supporters during a campaign meet-and-greet Oct. 12, 2024, at the Southeast Alaska Real Estate office near the Nugget Mall. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
‘This is no town hall. This is propaganda’; Begich takes heat at 1st virtual constituent forum

Congressman set to deliver his first joint address to the Alaska Legislature on Thursday.

Protesters stand with signs in support of federal employees, federal lands and the U.S. Constitution stand along the Sterling Highway in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna protesters call for Congress to oppose executive overreach

The local display was part of a “No Kings on President’s Day” effort orchestrated by the online 50501 movement.

Syverine Bentz, coastal training program coordinator for the Kachemak Bay Research Reserve, displays a board of ideas during a Local Solutions meeting focused on salmon at the Cook Inletkeeper Community Action Studio in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
In search of salmon solutions

Cook Inletkeeper hosts meeting to develop community project to help salmon.

Lisa Gabriel, left, watches as beach seine nets are pulled from the waters of Cook Inlet at a test site for the gear near Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
CFEC to consider seines for east side setnet fishery

The change is contingent on the State Board of Fisheries approving the gear during their March meeting.

A map of 2025 construction projects scheduled for the Kenai Peninsula. (Provided by Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities)
Department of Transportation announces construction plans

Most of the projects include work to various major highways.

Seward City Hall is seen under cloudy skies in Seward, Alaska, on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Seward adds full-time staffer for recently restarted teen rec room

Seward’s Parks and Recreation Department reclaimed responsibility for teen programming at the start of this year.

Gavin Ley stands with the “Go-Shopping Kart” he designed and built in his career and technical education courses at Nikiski Middle/High School in Nikiski, Alaska, on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Nikiski students learn professional skills through technical education

Career and technical education gives students opportunity to learn skills, express themselves creatively, work cooperatively and make decisions.

Nikiski teachers, students and parents applaud Nikiski Middle/High Principal Mike Crain as he’s recognized as the Alaska Association of Secondary School Principals 2025 Region III Principal of the Year by the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s Board of Education during their meeting in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Nikiski principal named Region III principal of the year

Crain has served as Nikiski’s principal for three years.

Most Read