GREENSBORO &8212; The youngsters playing Dixie Youth Baseball and Softball this year won&8217;t have trouble finding the park &8212; it is in the same place it has always been &8212; but they might find it difficult recognizing it.

That is because the park has been revamped by Auburn&8217;s Rural Studio program.

The Studio and the Greensboro Baseball Association will hold a grand opening ceremony at Lions Park today at noon to open the newly renovated and constructed fields to the baseball public. The project has taken two years to complete after the association was awarded a grant for $100,000 from the Baseball Tomorrow Fund (BTF) in September of 2005 that supported the renovation and construction of four fields and provided for the material costs.

Wise said he also became involved because of the large impact the fields would have on the Greensboro community. He said of all the projects they looked at he thought this one would impact the most people in the area.

A group of five thesis students from the Studio took on the project, with the help of the community, and they built four unique fields incorporating architectural knowledge learned during their studies. Wise said he was in the beginning of his thesis year, the last year of Auburn&8217;s five-year architectural program, when he took on the project. He said he has since finished school but stayed around to complete the project.

The project was implemented to repair the previous complex, which had fallen into disrepair. The park, in need of reorientation and rebuilding, received the help it needed through the grant provided and an extra kick when the Studio came on board for the project.

The grand opening of the park today will be attended by Jennifer Cartabona, the baseball Tomorrow Fund Grant Coordinator, State Sen. Booby Singleton, State Rep. Ralph Howard, Greensboro Mayor Vanessa Hill, Hale County Probate Judge Leland Avery and Auburn Rural Studio Director Andrew Freear.