AUGUSTA – By this time next year, the softball field behind Cony High School might become the produce section or bakery of a new Hannaford supermarket that’s scheduled to go up on the grounds later this year.

When the school building comes down, 13-year-old Cony Park will go with it. The school will move into a new facility about one mile up the road, a new field will be built, and Cony Park will be a memory.

Former Cony High coaches Paul Rodrigue and Charlie McDonald, who were instrumental in building the park and making it one of the state’s top softball facilities, were honored before Thursday’s Maine Softball Coaches Association senior all-star games.

Cony Park has lights for night games, sunken dugouts, a press box behind home plate, concessions and bleacher seating for about 250 people.

Rodrigue said conversations about building Cony Park started when the two coaches realized that most of the Class A teams they faced had fields at their own schools. At that time Cony was playing at fields located near the former Augusta Mental Health Institute.

They looked at what was then a “little, ratty” field behind the high school and decided to make something out of it. Rodrigue, who ran a construction company for 33 years, felt he had the equipment and know-how to do it.

“I said, hey, let’s built it, get the sponsors, just get it done,” said Rodrigue, who coached the Rams from 1990-98 and now coaches the Thomas College softball team. “So we got ‘er done.”

McDonald and Rodrigue solicited donations from other companies for earth work, concrete and lighting, and built the field for less than $30,000. The cost came entirely from private donations, Rodrigue said.

The field hosts about 30-40 games per year, including high school regular season and Eastern Maine and state title games.

Rodrigue is hoping Cony Park can be rebuilt, in some fashion, at the new high school. At least he hopes the school can build something on a par with the old field.

“What we’re trying to hit hard now is we’re trying to get them to replicate what we have,” Rodrigue said. “We’re dealing with the city and the school board and the money allocated. But there’s no reason for the program to go backwards and accept less than what they had here.”

Rodrigue admitted he’s sad to see Cony Park go after all the work put into it.

“[Former Noble of South Berwick coach] Rick Melanson reminded me, we had quite a few beers building this,” he said. “I said, yeah, we did.”