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after being collected by residents from the site

After a half-century of use as a US military training area before its closure in 2005, the former site of Kooni Firing Range at Maehyang Village is being turned into an eight-field youth baseball complex.

The city of Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, announced plans for the “youth baseball mecca” on Apr. 19. The facility is to be built over an area of 242,689 square-meters at a cost of 31.4 billion won (US$29 million) in city money, with a completion date late next year. It is to include eight baseball fields: four for little league, three for junior baseball, and one for women‘s baseball. Also in the works are an indoor batting range, a baseball activity center, and other family facilities.

The future baseball complex site covers around half the 580,000 square-meter area designated as a “peace and ecology park.”

Hwaseong is expecting visits by roughly 250,000 athletes and fans a year once the youth complex is complete, an influx it predicts will help revitalize the economy in surrounding Maehyang Village and contribute to the development of little league baseball.

The city is also planning to sign a business agreement with the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), Korea Little League Baseball Federation, and Women’s Baseball Association Korea to bid for the 2017-20 National Youth Baseball Championships. The ceremony is scheduled for 10:30 am on Apr. 20.

which was a US Air Force bombing range.

By Hong Yong-deok, south Gyeonggi correspondent

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