Some East Butler Baseball Association players gathered for a game and found themselves locked out of the borough complex in August 2023. The association is suing the borough seeking damages. Submitted photo

The East Butler Baseball Association claims in a lawsuit that East Butler borough is preventing the association from retrieving its property from ball fields it has maintained for 72 years and harmed it by locking the association out of the fields last year.

The association filed the suit Monday, Feb. 27, in Butler County Common Pleas Court seeking unspecified damages exceeding $35,000.

From 1952 until the August lockout, the association operated a Pony League for participants from ages 3 to 20 on fields the association constructed and maintained over those years without paying the borough, according to the suit.

The association built, maintained and regularly improved two dirt and grass fields, two artificial turf fields, two batting cages, a concession stand, bathrooms, equipment sheds and a gravel parking lot, according to the suit.

The association said it also installed and replaced lighting, installed and maintained scoreboards and installed, maintained and replaced outfield fencing.

The borough in mid-2023 contacted the association about a contract for the use of the fields. Proposals were exchanged, but none were agreed upon, and the borough locked the gate Aug. 9, according to the suit.

The suit maintains the gate was locked in an effort to gain leverage in negotiations with the association and prevented the association from accessing the field and its property and equipment. The borough has demanded to see proof of ownership of those items, according to the suit.

The association attached a list of the items that spans more than nine pages. According to the suit, the association can’t provide receipts for all of the property, because those records are at the field, which is now off limits.

Furthermore, the suit claims the borough’s demands for proof of ownership were made in bad faith, represent willful misconduct and obscure the extent of the property owned by the association.

The suit seeks the return of the association’s property, punitive damages, damages for lost business and damages for the benefits the borough enjoyed from the fields. The association is seeking a jury trial.

Members of borough council and the association could not be reached for comment.