Waterville YMCA to get its own mini-Wrigley Field, sans-Billy Goat's Curse
Courtesy / Flickr, Carlos Pacheco
Wrigley Field in the North Side of Chicago. Thanks in part to a $100,000 grant from the Baseball Tomorrow Fund, the Waterville-based Purnell Little League Field is being reconstructed as a mini version of the baseball field.
A Little League-sized taste of Wrigley Field is coming to the Waterville Area YMCA thanks in part to a $100,000 grant from the Baseball Tomorrow Fund. The grant will be used to reconstruct the Purnell Little League Field into a mini-Wrigley Field, complete with a replica scoreboard, donated bleachers from the Chicago Cubs and Boston ivy.
In addition to the mini-features of the original Wrigley Field, Purnell-Wrigley Field will also feature a synthetic turf playing surface, making it accessible to all players, including Special Olympic and Challenger League teams.
Local contractors will contribute $350,000 of in-kind support to supplement cash donations totaling $450,000 to date, according to a release. Other major supporters of the project include the nonprofit Sukeforth Foundation, Central Maine Motors and the Purnell Fund.
“On behalf of Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association, we are pleased to support the Waterville Area YMCA and its efforts to provide opportunities for youth to learn the game,” Cathy Bradley, executive director of the Baseball Tomorrow Fund, said in a prepared statement. “We thank the YMCA for providing safe and quality fields and programs to support the growth of the game in this region.”
The Baseball Tomorrow Fund is a joint initiative between the Major League Baseball Players Association and Major League Baseball, designed to promote the growth of youth baseball and softball throughout the world by awarding grants to support field renovation and construction projects, equipment and uniform purchases, coaches training material and other selected program expenses.
Photo: Flickr/Carlos Pacheco
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