To honor a well-known Jefferson City resident, the city's Park and Recreation Commission has approved renaming Cosmo Field to Vogel Field last Tuesday.
Commission President Brad Bates proposed the renaming to honor Carl Vogel, a former Missouri state representative and state senator for about 20 years combined.
Carl Vogel died in April 2016 after a 13-month battle with pancreatic cancer and was a familiar face in the community, having served as Jefferson City Coca-Cola Bottling Company president. He was on numerous local boards and commissions like St. Mary's Health Center, Missouri Development Finance Board, Jefferson City Housing Authority, Jefferson City Area Chamber of Commerce, and Jefferson City CrimeStoppers.
The Jefferson City Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department remembers Carl Vogel umpiring its slow-pitch softball recreation games. He also officiated high school football and basketball games, along with college football.
Carl Vogel was "intregral" in the local parks system, Bates said.
"Carl was so supportive of youth sports in our community, and he was always there to help with them himself," he said. "It just kind of fit together that someone that loved Jefferson City and loved youth sports, that this would be a real tribute to a man who always talked the talk and walked the walk."
The department plans to hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony within the next month to debut field renovations and the name change at Ellis-Porter Riverside Park. A date and time have not been set yet.
The new field will have a new brick backstop, black netting, dugouts, playing surface and batting cages.
"It's going to be a really first-class field," Bates said.