Harper, a chocolate lab, was having fun on the White Park baseball field this week. He splashed though the pools of water that covered the diamond, chasing a golden retriever.

His owner, Concord teacher Sarah Barnewall, 28, was less thrilled with the conditions. "They haven't been able to play ball in this field for some time," she said. "It's always flooded."

In fact, said Concord Recreation Director David Gill, the diamond is underwater or soggy approximately 90 percent of every baseball season.

But by late 2009, Concord ball players may have their diamond back. A $1.2 million renovation plan, set to begin this summer, would install a new drainage system. It would also renovate and move the parking lot, and open up the hockey rink for year-round use.

"It will dramatically change White Park, and the public will be quite satisfied," predicted City Engineer Ed Roberge.

The project is part of a White Park master plan, completed in 2005. The master plan recommended reconstructing the parking lot, improving the fields, court and play areas, building a new skate house and improving pond access. The first phase of the project, and the only one funded so far, will focus on the parking lot and baseball diamond.

Last year, the City Council set aside $511,500 for the project, just under one-third of that coming from recreational impact fees. The city also received a $148,500 federal grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Next month, the city council will decide whether to set aside the additional $477,800 needed to fully fund the first phase of improvements.

The project was designed by McFarland Johnson of Concord, and the city plans to begin advertising for bids by the end of the month. If funding is approved, a contract could be finalized by late May, with construction beginning in early June and continuing for about six months, Roberge said.

Gill said visitors may see roving closures and disturbances this summer, depending on the construction schedule, but he hopes to keep the playground, pool, basketball courts and as much of the park as possible open. "We're asking residents to be flexible," he said.

White Park was given to the city in 1884 by Armenia White in memory of her husband Nathaniel, who was a philanthropist and founder of the American Express Co. In 1982, it was put on the National Register of Historic Places. City officials have referred to it as Concord's "Boston Common," and as the "crown jewel" of the park community.

Matt Walsh, city assistant for special projects, said the investment is necessary "to maintain it at a level it deserves to be maintained, and make it more user friendly."

The often-waterlogged field is used by an adult baseball league, a youth soccer league, the high school and other local groups. Roberge said the changes will be mostly in drainage, although there will also be a new backstop and dugouts. Erik Newman, a member of the board of Friends of White Park, which has advocated for the improvements, said the plan calls for elevating the infield so the water flows toward the northeast corner of the park, and installing drainage facilities in that corner.

The parking lot would be changed even more noticeably. Currently, the lot extends lengthwise through the park, cutting it in two. It is made of dirt, gravel, and pavement studded with potholes and puddles. No lines mark the parking spots, and there are no designated spaces for handicapped parking. There is only one entrance.

"The parking lot's always been horrendous," said Jen Towle, 31, a stay-at-home mom who was feeding her baby recently at a picnic table in the park. She pointed to the potholes, and said the dirt parts of the lot are often muddy in the spring and icy in the winter. "It could use some revamping," she said.

The new plan would turn the lot 90 degrees and move it closer to White Street, so pedestrians could walk across the park without crossing the parking lot. There would be both an entrance and an exit. There would be room for 92 cars, about the same as the current lot, but spots will be clearly delineated and there would be designated handicapped spots. The lot will be paved and landscaped, with walking paths leading pedestrians from the parking lot to the hockey rink, playground, pool and ballfields. Roberge hopes it will have the city's first pervious pavement surface, an environmentally friendly type in which storm water permeates the pavement and goes back into the ground.

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