The Boys and Girls Club of the Foothills is hitting it out of the park with its new ball diamond. With construction of the club’s Field of Dreams baseball diamond about to begin, the club learned last week it’s receiving $50,000 from Jumpstart to ensure the grounds between Black Diamond and Turner Valley south of Highway 22 are wheelchair accessible.
Jumpstart’s Accessibility Grant is part of the charity’s Play Finds a Way movement to improve accessibility in the Field of Dreams’ washrooms, spectator seating, dugouts and pathways. The club is one of nine recipients in the first of Jumpstart’s five-year program.
“It’s amazing – we’re really thrilled,” said Shirley Puttock, chief executive officer of the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Foothills. “It’s really going to be a lot more than a ball diamond and field, it’s going to be a community facility for everyone and accessible to everyone.”
The club was approved $150,000 from the Jays Care Foundation to help build a regulation-sized ball diamond two years ago. The foundation is a charitable arm of the Toronto Blue Jays, investing in infrastructure projects through its Field of Dreams grant program to build, enhance or refurbish spaces for youth to play ball, develop skills and learn from positive role models.
“It’s going to be a beautiful facility for all of the children and youth of the Foothills,” said Puttock. “It’s a beautiful site.”
With 125 youth in the club’s before-and-after school program and approximately 150 in day camps in Black Diamond, Nanton, High River and Blairmore, a ball diamond is a huge asset to the club, said Puttock. Its programs offer activities for youths ages five to 18 from cooking lessons to outdoor play.
Those in the Black Diamond club often use the small diamond at nearby C. Ian McLaren School, but Puttock and her staff were looking for something more inclusive.
“We’ve expanded the project to include accessible washrooms and seating at the dugouts and bleachers,” she said. “We will have paved parking for 102 vehicles and we’re making it accessible for everybody. We really want to make it accessible because the Boys and Girls Club is about being accessible to all children and youth.”
Puttock said the development permit has been approved for the Field of Dreams, but there have been delays in construction.
“We were originally expecting it to be ready this year, but we were held up for quite a few weeks,” she said. “In terms of construction projects things are rolling as they usually do - over budget and behind schedule - but the Jays Care Foundation is aware of everything. We keep them posted on a regular basis.”
A bear hanging around the site for a couple of weeks prevented anyone from accessing the site last month, but it has since been relocated, said Puttock. Another hurdle — the presence of the endangered Alberta cliff swallow nesting on a pile of dirt at the site — has further delayed work, she said.
“Until they fly away we can’t start construction,” she said. “The timing works anyway because we had to tender through the provincial website because it’s on municipal land and the municipality is giving us money.”
The Town of Black Diamond contributed $77,500 from its recreation reserve fund to the project.
“We’re still looking for funding,” Puttock said. “The cost of the ball diamond has gone up because the price of steel has gone up. We will be applying to anyone and everyone that will help fund this ball diamond.”
The club has raised $248,000 so far and will need another approximately $350,000 to cover the cost of construction, said Puttock.
“I will be applying for grants,” she said. “We could have the ball diamond complete this season and work on fundraisers over the winter to pay for the building and paved parking lot.”
The club will host a steak and lobster supper for $60 a plate at the Flare ‘n’ Derrick Community Hall in Turner Valley on Oct. 27 with proceeds going to the Field of Dreams. Call 403-933-4066 to purchase tickets.
“Now that the sign is up people will know and that will stir up interest again,” said Puttock. “Baseball is such an amazing game. It’s about teamwork and building confidence and self-esteem. “It’s about skill building and just building confidence holding a bat and throwing a ball.”
