Jefferson Fields softball complex in St. Peter will be getting some upgrades thanks to a $16,600 donation from local players.

“It was a wonderful thing that they did,” St. Peter City Administrator Todd Prafke said of the St. Peter Softball Association’s $8,800 contribution for sidewalk additions and $7,800 for an in-ground field sprinkler system.

Prafke said the sidewalk and other concrete additions will make the complex fully handicapped accessible.

The sidewalks also will piggyback onto the city’s Safe Routes to School program, a federal and state-funded initiative to enable and encourage children to walk and bicycle to school, thereby conserving fuels and fostering healthy lifestyles.

Softball association president Keith Hanson said the donations are part of the association’s ongoing efforts to improve the four-field Jefferson complex.

“We’ve been able to do a lot of nice projects, with us buying the materials and the city supplying the labor,” said Hanson, who also lauded St. Peter’s girls fastpitch association for helping fund improvements.

The St. Peter Softball Association is comprised of 38 adult slow-pitch teams representing about 500 players.

The vast majority of field improvements at Jefferson are paid for through player fees and revenues from the association-operated concession stand.

The latest improvements mean that two of the four fields have in-ground watering systems, and Hanson hopes the other two can be similarly outfitted in the near future.

Also on the association’s wish list is another set of field lights. Jefferson currently has two lighted fields.