Whitfield buys ECAP

By Neil Fuller
Published in Sports on January 16, 2005 2:02 AM

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Local legend George Whitfield now has one more baseball tie to Wayne County.

One more big tie.

Whitfield, during his annual clinic at Goldsboro High School on Saturday, confirmed to the News-Argus that he and two business partners have purchased the Eastern Carolina Athletic Park.

The deal, which also involves Eddie Rhodes and Billy Wilson, was finalized on Jan. 11.

"Owning it will feel pretty good once it's finally all paid for," Whitfield said with a chuckle. "It's going to be some hard work, but I'm looking forward to it. My two partners love baseball -- they're involved in AAU ball -- so we're going to try real hard to make a go of it."

The ECAP will soon be renamed the George Whitfield Sports Complex. Other changes are on the way, too.

According to Whitfield, warning tracks are to be added, piping installed on the fences, fields upgraded, windscreens added and even a new restaurant is on the way.

Boondoggle's Family Restaurant will be serving breakfast -- a new feature for the local athletics facility -- in addition to meals later into the day and evening.

It's all in part to lure big-name tournaments to the park formerly known as the ECAP.

"We hope that's the end result," Whitfield said. "We certainly hope so. We also want it to be as nice a place for people to come out to as possible."