Cambridge council swings for the fences, keeps accessible ball diamond project alive
Posted Jul 23, 2025 07:04:06 AM.
Last Updated Jul 23, 2025 07:04:11 AM.
After hopes were dashed on the future of Cambridge’s accessible Kin 1 Ball Diamond project, city council has now kept the vision alive and agreed to move forward with the upcoming development.
It means taking on some debt, covering the total $3.025 million cost of the development.
The city had previously hoped to get the project partially funded through the Jays Care ‘Field of Dreams’ program, but it was announced that the application was denied earlier in the week.
It’s not all bad news, though, as Manager of Recreation with the City of Cambridge, Shane Taylor, said some hope was sent in the form of notes along with the denial from Jays Care.
“They did encourage us to apply again this year because we will be closer to construction or in construction at the time,” Taylor said. “It sounded like they wanted that assurance that the project was actually moving forward before we got the funding.”
It means the city can reapply for Jays Care funding once construction gets underway.
The ball diamond is located at Kinsmen Stadium in Riverside Park, with some of the main new additions said to include accessible dugouts, bleachers, as well as pathways and artificial turf.
Taylor stated that there are still other options available in the meantime to try and recover some further financial costs.
“Staff is actively pursuing sponsorship opportunities as well as donations,” Taylor mentioned. “We currently have a donations portal up live as of, I believe, last week or the week before. It’s still pretty fresh out there, but it is now live.”
Taylor said larger boosts will come in the form of naming sponsorships tied to the diamond, similar to what’s been done at other recreational areas throughout the city in the past.
“We are actively speaking with potential sponsors, naming sponsors for the facility. We don’t have anything firmly locked up at the moment, but we have been having some conversations, and those conversations do seem to be going positively.”
Council was faced with the decision of either turning down the motion and canceling progress on the accessibility project, or voting in favour of the motion and taking on the debt and pushing the project forward to its next steps.
They ended up voting unanimously to keep the accessible project alive.
Currently, construction is slated to begin sometime later this year, after the summer baseball season comes to a close.
Estimates currently expect the development to be completed and set to make its official debut in the summer of next year.
