What would Marion Elliott think?

You’ve got to wonder that after the Manteca City Council without as much as a peep accepted the update to the city’s park and recreation master plan earlier this month.

Specifically, the question centers around a consultant’s determination the lighted baseball field at Marion Elliott Park was under-utilized and therefore was a prime candidate for being repurposed.

It’s a fair enough of an observation.

The conclusion, though, shows how shallow the process was in trying to address needs that couldn’t be determined by plugging in national facilities-to-population ratios and then declare Manteca had a pickleball court shortage severe enough to recommend cannibalizing a youth baseball field.

The survey of stakeholders came after the pandemic shutdown everything and brought community-based youth sports organizations to a grinding halt.

Manteca Little League was in a bit of a disarray coming out of the pandemic for several years as was likely the city’s other two Little League programs.

The pandemic was barely two years in the rearview mirror when the consultant determined the baseball field was so under-utilized it justified ripping out improvements that could easily cost $600 thousand to replace today in favor of 12 pickleball courts and more parking.

Elliott, for those unfamiliar with the man, devoted 37 years educating Manteca Unified student ending his career as principal of Lincoln School that adjoins the park.

His commitment to shaping youth led him to a lifetime of investing a massive amount of time in recreation programs.

Elliott was a part-time recreation director for the city from 1958 to 1972.

He also helped found the Babe Ruth baseball program in Manteca and helped it flourish as a board member, a coach, and, an umpire.

His commitment to Babe Ruth baseball extended to the regional, state, and national levels.

Why it matters what Marion Elliott thinks on the question of converting the lighted baseball field to pickleball courts has nothing to do with his commitment to baseball.

Nor does it have to any role he played in getting the field in place.

And it isn’t about clinging to the past.

It has to do with his real life perspective on the need for youth recreation programs and how hard it is to get adequate facilities for youth programs in place.

In fairness to the City Council, they were handed a grenade of sorts.

The consulting firm, anxious apparently to show how brilliant they were when it came to helping steer cities in the arena of parks and recreation, opted to draw emphasis to the idea by showcasing the ripping apart a baseball field and putting up pickleball courts in a Power Point presentation.

To their credit, no one in the council asked the impolite question as in “what were you thinking.”

It also goes without saying by adopting the update this council — and future councils — aren’t committing to pursue any of the suggestions.

Nor did they ask the obvious question, why the one park that the city clearly determined was under-utilized — Library Park — never got the repurposing treatment.

This is the same city that just a little over two years ago issued a request for proposals to privatize Library Park and pursued the possibility of turning it into a repurposed shipping container food court.

How the consultant missed that but zeroed in on the need to repurpose the Marion Elliott baseball field as well as Morezone Field on Center Street is flat out mind-boggling.

Elected officials are the ultimate stakeholders.

They clearly believe Library Park needs to be repurposed.

Yet, that failed to show up in the updated parks and recreation masterplan.

The consultant is correct, however, if the baseball fields are underutilized to point it out.

But that doesn’t mean converting a youth sports facility that is still being used as a sacrificial lamb to accommodate a sport that is overwhelmingly pursued by adults.

Why not suggest encouraging other Little Leagues in Manteca to program games on it given it is a lighted field suited for upper division play?

Perhaps why that wasn’t suggested is the field isn’t really underutilized that much in the prime time for playing youth baseball — spring and early summer — that is recreational and not of the competitive genre.

Is there a way to use the field for other youth sports that could be jump started through a recreation program if it doesn’t already exist? La crosse, which is gaining steam as a California Interscholastic Federation high school sport, and field hockey come to mind.

Manteca is a growing and diverse community.

Surely, one or both of the two lighted baseball fields that are “under-utilized” can be utilized for a youth sport instead of a pickleball center or, in the case of Morenzone Field, turned into an events center to generate revenue for the city.

Perhaps hybrid uses can be worked out with minimum effort.

The baseball field at Lincoln Park over the years has been used for youth football practices under the lights.

The goal should be to make sure facilities are used to the max.

But does that mean they have to be used every day, every weekend, or even every month if the purpose they are designed for doesn’t allow it?

The swimming pool at Marion Elliott Park is not used from September to March but it wasn’t labeled as “under-utilized”. Perhaps the city having a lighted youth baseball field is OK if it is only utilized from April to July.

Or why not take the tact that you need to program space just as the city is considering doing with the corner of Yosemite and Main as part of its downtown specific plan.

Who knows, the city might discover there might be a demand for a winter baseball league.

If that’s far-fetched sounding, it is not as far out there are declaring Manteca currently is short 13.7 pickleball courts.

The council should do one or two things.

Formally declare the idea of turning a lighted baseball field into 12 pickleball courts and parking as being dead on arrival.

Or take a good long-hard look at ways to further utilize the field for youth sports whether it is more baseball or other endeavors.

To do so, they should put the ball in the court where such an endeavor needs to start — the Parks and Recreation Commission — before drinking the magic elixir hawked by the modern equivalent of traveling flim-flam men.