ELIZABETHTON, Tenn. (WJHL) — The Elizabethton River Riders, Boyd Sports, Elizabethton Parks and Recreation Department and local businesses have started restoring Cat Island baseball and softball fields.

The project aims to upgrade and restore the fields damaged during Hurricane Helene.

“There are over 600 children in the Elizabethton/Carter County Baseball Association,” Elizabethton River Riders General Manager Kiva Fuller said in a news release. “The job is not done, as we want to have everything ready to go by opening day for the league.”

The project includes removing destroyed fences, debris and silt left by the flood as well as leveling dirt on playing surfaces, measuring and realigning basepaths and replacing bases.

The release stated that local businesses helped supply heavy equipment, fencing, outfield seed, paint, a scoreboard and breakfast and lunch for project volunteers.

“Thanks to Boyd Sports, the River Riders, the city Parks and Rec division, the City of Elizabethton, and the ECC volunteers, we began to take out the flood damage and repair the baseball and softball fields for the spring season,” Elizabethton/Carter County Little League President Andy Hilton said in the release. “It is a tremendous blessing to have all the people come together to help, from the volunteers to the people who have donated products and equipment. We did not have a clue how it would happen but [it] has happened right in front of our eyes thanks to all the people who care.”