Nov

28

Students Build a New Field of Dreams for the Bourne Braves

Posted by Greg | Filed Under News | 

According to Boston’s CBS Channel 4, students at Upper Cape Tech have constructed a new state-of-the-art ball field for the Bourne Braves. My son and his best Cape buddy attended the 2005 Braves v. Ketleers playoff game at the old Bourne field. To this day, they say it was their favorite. But while the old field near Bourne Bridge holds some fond memories, it sounds like the new ballpark is a must-see for Cape fans this coming summer.

The Yawkey Foundation, which contributed to this project and other Cape baseball capital projects, continues to donate generously and wisely to the improvement of the Cape League and amateur baseball

Here are some excerpts from the CBS 4 report:
-“It is the newest, and arguably, the highest quality baseball field in the entire Cape Cod league. And who do you think built it? — A professional landscaping company? No. Kids did.” -”I think we did a hell of a job — came together real good,” said one student who helped with the project.-”Our students have done probably 80 percent of the work,” said Superintendent Kevin Farr. -“The students at Upper Cape Tech took on the challenge of building a new filed for the Bourne Braves — from the electronic scoreboard, to the blue grass sod to the press box.”

Comments

4 Responses to “Students Build a New Field of Dreams for the Bourne Braves”

  1. Anonymous on November 29th, 2006 11:35 am

    The playing surface itself is terrific…tops in the league or in any league. However, the spectator areas, concessions and press box are incomplete and a lot of serious work needs to be done if Bourne hopes to raise attendance which was still close to if not the lowest in the league despite the excitement of the new field. The spectator areas are largely sand and the sand includes construction debris, rocks and other matter. I’m sure they’ll correct things but Bourne has a very hard time recruiting volunteers and their organization is not that well….well organized.

  2. Andrew Wirtanen on November 29th, 2006 3:20 pm

    I agree with anonymous… I reviewed all the fields on my blog (andrewwirtanen.com), including this new field built by the upper Cape high school students for the ‘06 season…

    The spectator area for 2006 was wood chips or sand (yes, that’s right). I originally read that they were intending on emulating the tiered structure of Eldredge Field in Orleans, which works so very well there. I hope they try and make grass for 2007. I have a burning image in my mind of a guy I saw at Bourne during the season on a beach chair on top of a pile of dirt.

    The playing field is top-class. My guess is that it was the student’s priority (and with good reason). I also like the concession stand, and I think the press box will look nice when it is completed (perhaps it already is… I have not been to Bourne since early last season).

  3. Anonymous on November 30th, 2006 6:21 am

    I have been by the field since the end of the season…perhaps a month ago…and it is exactly the same. While the students have participated in the construction of the facility, they do not do any fundraising and my guess is that Bourne has gone through their Yawkey Grant money and is short on cash. Combine that with a lack of organization volunteers and it might take a while. My guess is that they will get the pressbox done but the spectator areas will still suffer for 2007.

    I agree with the grassy, tiered set-up but they don’t really have that there except for a decent distance behind the first base line. The concession building is nice but sits in a prime viewing location.

  4. Anonymous on December 28th, 2006 11:30 pm

    Please delete from here….
    - codball.blogspot.com 8
    spaghetti alla carbonara

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