Accessible ball diamond in Cambridge still a possibility despite exclusion from draft budget

At the time, it seemed like a grand slam.

On Oct. 8, Cambridge council was presented with a plan calling for accessibility upgrades to a ball diamond at Riverside Park. It would turn the Kin 1 diamond into the region’s first fully accessible softball field.

Council appeared fully behind the idea, going so far as to unanimously pass a motion to apply to the Jays Care Foundation’s Field of Dreams program that supplies grant money to communities for baseball diamond upgrades.

Advocates were then taken aback when the project was excluded from Mayor Jan Liggett’s 2025 draft budget.

Cam Linwood is the founder of Buddy League Canada – an adaptive baseball league for kids with special needs in Waterloo Region. He has spearheaded the efforts to see Kin 1 upgraded and presented the proposal to council at the October meeting.

He addressed council again this week, questioning why a project that aligns so perfectly with the city’s strategic priorities would be excluded.

“This omission represents more than a simple budgeting oversight. It reflects a troubling lack of emphasis on accessibility and inclusivity throughout the entire budget,” he said. “In a document spanning 258 pages, the word accessible appears just eleven times.”

He went on to question the purpose of having strong-mayor powers if they’re not being used to advance projects that fall under both city and provincial strategic priorities.

“What progress are we making when accessibility projects like the accessible diamond upgrades are overlooked in this draft? Strong-mayor powers should not be used to cut inclusivity from the agenda. But rather, break-down barriers that prevent people from fully engaging with the community.”

In response, Cambridge Mayor Jan Liggett said the draft budget was completed back in June, well before the delegations made their presentations in October. She said councillors will have the opportunity to present budget amendments and she expects to see the upgrades among those.

She added, “It’s called a draft budget for a reason.”

The Budget Committee is next scheduled to meet on Nov. 21.