Pullman Park looks like a jewel today.

For years, it was a diamond in the rough.

“People forget what that place used to look like,” Butler resident and U.S. Congressman Mike Kelly said. “It was rundown, falling apart ... most people had given up on it.”

Tom Burnatoski was one of the few who didn’t. For more than a decade, he and his wife, Lucy, operated the concession stand at the facility during high school and Legion baseball games.

Jim McKinney, Bill Spohn and a few others joined the couple in keeping Pullman Park a viable operation.

“They kept the spark alive because it was really going out. Without those folks, the renovation never happens and the new park isn’t even here,” Kelly said.

Burnatoski, 77, and hislate wife received the first-ever Pullman Park Legacy Award during a reception last week at the ballpark. Plans are to make presentation of the award an annual event.

Burnatoski received a plaque and he and his wife’s names are engraved on a home plate that will be on display at the ballpark.

“As a resident of Butler, I’ve always been proud of this place,” Burnatoski said. “I put in a lot of hours here. I was glad to do it ... I’d do it all over again.

“My health hasn’t been great lately, but if the board needed me to do something for the park today, I’m still here.”

Burnatoski said he worked for the city and it was “the city’s responsibility to run that park.” He is a longtime member of the Pullman Park Board of Trust.

Upon his retirement, Burnatoski volunteered his time at the ballpark daily.

“There was very little money available to sink into the park. Tom and a few others, they pretty much took over running the field on their own,” said Art Cordwell, Executive Director of the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Butler.

Kelly said Burnatoski and his wife arrived at Pullman Park in the morning and didn’t leave until dark “and everyone was out of there.”

“They sank their heart and soul into this place,” he said.

“I enjoyed it,” Burnatoski said. “There’s so much history here.”

Pullman Park was built in 1934. Baseball legends Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Whitey Ford, Josh Gibson, “Cool Papa” Bell and Oscar Charleston played there.

Now the redevelopment authority is honoring the local legends that kept the park going.

“The Burnatoskis cooked the food, cleaned up the garbage, never asked for anything in return,” Fred Reese, board chairman of the redevelopment authority said. “This is a way to say thank you.”

Kelly said Tom and Lucy Burnatoski used to hand-cut and cook the french fries that became the staple of the concession items available at the park.

“They are among the fine, solid people that make Butler great,” Kelly said. “They never got paid a penny for all the work they did. It was their pride and dedication that kept Pullman Park alive.”

Burnatoski’s wife died before the renovation of the ballpark was completed.

“That’s my one regret, that Lucy never got to see this place,” Burnatoski said. “She would have loved it.”