The Wrangell Elks Lodge directed $12,000 in grant funds to pay for improvements at the Little League ball field.

The money allowed the Little League to hire White Enterprises to build a new retaining wall and foundation to support the elevated bleachers on the first-base side of the senior and junior league field.

“It’s a large project we wish we could have afforded for a long time,” said Briana Schilling, league president.

The wooden boards that contained the rock foundation had deteriorated. The work involves pulling out the wood, setting new cement blocks to contain the rock fill to provide a stable base for the bleachers and fencing, she said.

Work started last week and she hopes it can be completed by the end of the month.

The work also includes smoothing out and covering the ground with crushed rock around the bathrooms and concessions stand, replacing wet grass and slippery mud that presented a safety risk, Schilling said.

The field is used by 13- to 16-year-olds, she said. The other two fields are used by major and minor league teams (7- to 12-year-olds) and the T-ball league.

Elks lodge member Traci Davidson was the catalyst for going after the grant funding, Schilling said. Davidson has grandchildren in Little League and is club secretary at the Elks.

At her suggestion, the Wrangell Elks Lodge applied for a grant from the Alaska State Elks Association HELP program (Hometown Elks Local Projects), which the lodge voted to use for the ball field work.

It was the second-largest grant ever from the state program for Wrangell, surpassing last year’s $10,000 grant that went toward the school wrestling program to buy mats for a larger practice room.

The state Elks association is growing its grant fund and making larger awards for local projects, said Dawn Angerman, a trustee at the Wrangell lodge.

“Our Elk members do great things working together for many local causes,” Angerman said in a Facebook post. “If you would like more information on how you can join one of the premier charitable organizations in the nation, please visit our lodge or ask a current member for a membership application.”