254847
250050

Penticton  

Summerland council needs more time for staff to look into costs to help restore local baseball field

Baseball budget pondered

Summerland council will need more time to decide if they can financially support the restoration of a local baseball field, a movement spearheaded by a family hoping to honour their son.

Husband and wife fundraising team Jeff and Melissa Taylor are working on breathing back life into Living Memorial Park.

Their son, Hendriks Jon Taylor, passed away last summer at the age of 16. Hendriks had lived with a brain tumour and ultimately took his own life.

“It's been such an incredible loss. This idea came to us probably the second day after he had passed, that we just needed to do something to keep his memory alive and to give back to this community that's been so good to us and was so good to him,” Melissa told Castanet at the time.

"We're really motivated to honour him by redoing these fields.”

The parents want to rename "Field 2" to Field 96, named after Hendriks' jersey number, but otherwise keep the name Living Memorial Park.

Their fundraiser, which has a goal of $750,000, would go towards completely renovating the field and surrounding area, including adding new lighting, grandstands, batting cages, redoing the field, adding new fencing, and new bases and upgrading the bathrooms which have fallen into disrepair.

The Taylors have also applied for the Toronto Blue Jays Field Of Dreams grant, which provides funding to design, refurbish and build local baseball diamonds in communities across the country.

Melissa shared in an update to Castanet in December that they have been screened into the final stage of the Blue Jays Cares Foundation grant.

"Our application was 'very well received.' We are thrilled as this could mean a very substantial investment," she added.

The family, along with the Summerland Minor Baseball Association (SMBA) appeared before Mayor and council on Tuesday, asking the district to allocate funds to match the potential award from the Blue Jays Cares Grant, Field of Dreams Program up to the amount of $250,000.

To date, SMBA has raised more than $75,000 through a GoFundMe and has plans in place for a variety of fundraising efforts that will continue locally, and on the coast, as they move into spring.

While they have a letter of support from council on the project to include in their application, having an agreed financial match confirmed adds a competitive edge to be awarded the Field Of Dreams grant.

Coun. Janet Peake asked if they have to match the $250K commitment, or what the options were.

Melissa explained that if council does not agree on the full contribution of the one-third cost of the project, SMBA would secondarily ask for them to consider a lesser amount rather than have no contribution.

“We don’t have to match it, we are asking that you match it,” she added.

The rebuild’s largest expense is lighting the field, and Melissa said that part could be delayed, but they are aiming to get it done.

“I think this is an amazing project,” Coun. Adrienne Betts said. “I know that our recreation facilities and amenities cost a tremendous amount of money, so that’s a really hard balance that we’ll try to figure out along the way.”

Mayor Doug Holmes said he appreciated the breakdown of costs for the budget of the park renovation, and asked if they had looked at the operational and maintenance costs.

“I don't expect that there will be significant costs,” Melissa answered, pointing out that in discussions with district staff and park personnel, grass cutting and irrigation are already in place.

“If we got to a place where we get lighting…there would be some increased electrical costs but the maintenance budget is already in place.”

Melissa added that there is a time pressure for council’s answer, as the support for Blue Jays Cares Field of Dreams grant has until Jan. 31, 2025, to be formally submitted.

Holmes said it would unfortunately be tough to give a commitment by the end of January, given the large cost request and the need to have staff look into the budget.

Council’s next meeting will not be until February and they are nearing the final reading for adoption of this year’s budget.

Staff will be bringing back budget advice and options for consideration at the next council meeting on Feb. 11.



More Penticton News