Lismore’s Albert Park may be ready to host its first major sporting event this week, but there is still work to be done to return it to pre-flood standards.

Albert Park is this week hosting the School Sport Australia National Baseball Championships, with more than 350 people coming to Lismore, including 160 players, 30 officials.

Eight teams from the ACT, NSW, QLD, South Australia and Victoria will play off during the week-long event that ends on 13 May. It is estimated to generate $350,000 for the economy, supporting local businesses and jobs.

Lismore City Council’s Chief Operating Officer Brendan Logan said Council’s Managing Contractor for the repair of flood-damaged buildings and fields, Bennett Constructions, had put in a great effort to complete the works in time to host the School Sport Australia National Baseball Championships.

“Like a lot of things in Lismore, Albert Park suffered major damage, including to its clubhouse, canteen, netting and four playing fields,” he said.

“With this rebuild effort by Bennett, Albert Park once again meets international standards and is ready to welcome players from around the country.”

“This is the first Council facility to be restored since the natural disaster and is a small but important milestone in the recovery of Lismore, where sport is a large component of our social fabric.”

Public Relations Officer for Far North Coast Baseball Association Jeremy Sexton said whilst extremely grateful for the work so far, the rebuild is not finished yet.

“We still have one field and several diamonds out of action, our tunnels also aren't completed, and also the nets… so we need work to continue so we can host the big events,” he said.

“The Association is very, very appreciative for the work done to get us back to where we are, but we still have a lot more to be done.”

“It is great the schoolboys are here, but in order to host our Timberjacks tournament, and other national titles, we need everything to be completed.”

“Lismore does host some pretty massive tournaments in the Australian baseball scene, and the facilities that we had pre-flood were unrivalled in a rural area… outside of a major metro area, you'd be hard pressed to find anywhere that has the fields and the facilities that we had.”

Following the flood last year, the complex’s batting tunnels crumbled to the ground, foul poles were bent, netting was ripped, scoring boxes were laying on their side with floodwater leaking out, and the clubrooms deemed a construction zone.

It left roughly 34 teams – across both junior and senior level – displaced a month out from the winter season’s planned start date and forced the Far North Coast outfits to withdraw from the New South Wales State Little League titles.

Baseball has since returned, which is another step forward, and another sign that Lismore is rebuilding, and with a bit more work to be done, visitors will be returning to play their part in that process.