Wireless company wants to place pole at Holcom

There are no plans to rename Ice Field – the venerable baseball venue at Holcom Park – T-Mobile Field. But the wireless phone company does want to have a presence at the ballpark. The company is working to win approval to place a 120 foot wireless phone tower in the park. Thus far, leaders with the Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department are fine with the idea. That’s because the company is proposing to put up a “stealth” pole. The plan calls for removing the 90 foot left field light pole at Ice Field and replacing it with the 120 foot telephone pole. The lights will be reattached at the proper height, and the telephone equipment will be attached at the top. There also will be a small building at the base for a generator and other equipment. T-Mobile would pay the city a monthly fee for use of the ground, which will continue to be owned by the city. A lease amount hasn’t been determined yet, said Ernie Shaw, the city’s acting director of Parks and Recreation. But typically, such leases net the city several thousand dollars per year. The plan has received the necessary approvals from Parks and Recreation officials and from the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, which provided money to help establish the park in the 1970s. But the plan still must win all the normal planning approvals from city planners and the Planning Commission. Shaw said the company wants to install the pole as soon as possible.