The City of Windsor says preparations are underway to get the diamonds and sport fields in shape for the annual May opening.
City Executive Director of Parks and Facilities, James Chacko, says crews are now in spring cleaning mode.
"Trying to get any of the additional leaves or remove any debris that's accumulated over the winter, we're aerating we're fertilizing, we're rolling the fields, we're doing, in particular for baseball diamonds levelling off and adding any additional diamond infield material, whether it's red clay or stone dust," Chacko said.
He says they're aiming for early May to open the fields and diamonds.
"May 3 for all of our baseball, softball diamonds, and then the following Saturday, May 10 for all of our other sports fields, that's our cricket pitches our rugby pitch, and then all of the various soccer fields of different sizes throughout the City of Windsor." Chacko said.
Chacko says if fields are used without a permit, users may receive a fine for unauthorized use.
"We certainly don't want to reach the point where we have to enforce that from a standpoint of levelling fines," Chacko said. "We do always try to stress the educational process versus an enforcement and penalization process, but in the event that we reach that point, we will move forward with issuing fines, but again we really do stress education."
Chacko says the turf needs time to mature and staff need time to complete important pre-season maintenance.