A local baseball field will no longer host the Cranston League for Cranston’s Future baseball teams as the city prepares to pave a new parking lot at Ricci Field.

The city has made several other fields available to CLCF, a youth sports organization in Cranston, to use as replacement. These include a baseball field at the Chaffee Complex, one at Garden City Elementary School, two T-ball fields designated for CLCF at the Chaffee Complex, a practice field off Oaklawn Avenue and a field at the CLCF complex on Pontiac Avenue.

For more than nine months, CLCF’s leadership knew about this arrangement and was in full accord with it, the mayor’s office said.

“The message [was] pure and simple [was] that we were losing that field, and we understood, we knew it and we were OK with it because we were going to be compensated with other fields,” said Steven Marocco, fundraising chairman for CLCF.

According to Mayor Ken Hopkins’ Chief of Staff Anthony Moretti, city government is looking to reduce the footprint of its leased office space. The space, which was on Sockanosset Cross Road, housed the city’s Inspections and Community Development departments as well as employees of the Public Works Department.

Moretti said it was costing the city $80,000 per year. The space will be consolidated into two city-owned facilities, City Hall and the Pastore Center.

According to Moretti, the city has decided to do what it can to help kids finish out their season. Marocco said the city offered to put up temporary fencing to let kids continue their fall season there.

"This is a no-brainer for the city, and this is not going to hurt CLCF in any way shape or form,” Marocco said. “We are so fortunate to have this administration and the Parks and Recreation Department, and I mean that.”