More than 100 residents of all ages were on the edge of their seats at McInnis Park in Fruitvale on Tuesday, as a live feed from Sportsnet announced the names of the winning baseball diamonds for the Field of Dreams project.
Beaver Valley Little League was a finalist for the initiative run by the Jays Care Foundation, where parks from across Canada vie for grants of $135,000 for upgrades to their respective facilities.
The announcer started in the Maritimes, and made his way through Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and finally B.C.
“We have two recipients in British Columbia,” said the announcer. “Congratulations to the Village of Fruitvale …”
That was all that was heard from Sportsnet, as bedlam ensued and the supporters went wild.
An elated Fruitvale Mayor Steve Morissette thanked village staff, public works manager Jason Startup, Chief Financial Officer Marcus Partridge, and Tammy Gallamore for putting in the time and effort to make the application possible.
“We are so thankful for all the work that’s been done on this, it’s been fantastic the way the community has come together, and worked on this,” said Morissette. “We are looking so forward to seeing this new field here, we’ll have the first turf field in the interior I believe.”
In addition to the Jays’ funds, Columbia Basin Trust also provided a generous grant of $185,000 and the village $100,000 to support B.V. Little League and the park upgrade.
“All the hard work paid off and this is super exciting for Beaver Valley Little League, the Village of Fruitvale, and all of us here in this community,” said Startup. “There’s very good things happening in the baseball world.”
The vision started with the Beaver Valley Master Plan for recreation, and evolved from there, said the Fruitvale CFO.
The Field of Dreams process started in October, when Partridge submitted the first application, and then followed with another in January.
“I just knew it was there,” said Partridge. “And looking at the whole master plan for all of these parks, I knew I could do something with the ball diamond.”
The new field will be one of the first in the Kootenays that will use state-of-the-art artificial turf, and be climate-change resistant by reducing maintenance and eliminating irrigation.
“As soon as little league is done we can get rolling,” said Startup. “We have the park booked in July, six to eight weeks is going to be the process, so as soon as we can, we are going to start tearing out and rebuilding.
“It should be up and running for next season.”
As for B.V. Little League president Dale Ernst, who grew up playing ball at McInnis Park, the combined efforts and funding will make a massive difference for the future of little league in the valley.
“It’s very exciting,” said Ernst. “To be able to hand the park down to the next generation of ball players is huge. All the volunteers that build it for us, we are getting to repay that back to the future players.”
The Field of Dreams is one of several programs run by the Jays Care Foundation, and provides funding to design, refurbish and build local baseball diamonds in communities across the country.
Fruitvale was one of 14 little league parks across Canada to receive funding in 2024.
“It’s unreal,” said Morissette. “The work that goes into receiving a grant like this, it takes the whole community and we have been working towards this for a while through the master plan for the park about three years ago, with community input and here we are.
“We are seeing the fruits of our labour and it is awesome!”
Field Of Dreams diamonds are created to be safe and inclusive spaces where communities can connect and kids can grow.
In the past decade, Jays Care has invested more than $15 million into 163 Field Of Dreams diamonds across 10 provinces and two territories.
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