Bob Cene Park celebrates 25th anniversary
Not far from that river launch, a Struthers baseball complex is celebrating its 25th anniversary tonight.
Bob Cene Park opened in 1995 as a place where teens and young men could feel like a major leaguer.
Bob Cene owned Astroshapes in Stuthers but he realized his dream of creating a place where teens could place baseball. He transformed an old steel mill property into a giant three-field baseball complex. He wanted a special place for boys who grew out of little league could play and feel like pros. And everything here at Cene Park feel major league, from the fields to the stands.
"He loved the kids. Just giving them the opportunity and kept them out of trouble. Kept them on the field with a place to stay and play baseball. He just did it for the pure joy of the kids. He loved helping them and that's what he spent his whole life doing," said Bob Cene Jr.
Teams from all over America and Canada have played here. Bob jr. estimates well over 20 thousand games have been played here since that first pitch 25 years ago. And at least five players here eventually played for the major leagues.
A younger generation of family is going to take over the park operations here and they have a lot of good plans for the parks future.
"We are going to replace the fencing with the netting like all the major league teams use. really making some nice updates. the parking lot is all paved. Just trying to make this place as beautiful as possible for all the kids who come though my grandpa's legacy," said Paul Cene.
Bob Cene Sr. passed away in 1999 but here his legacy will live on forever and his family likes to think that he is always looking down on these fields and smiling.