Field of Dreams, Building of Science

Work is proceeding on a revised youth baseball complex in the Bragg Hill area. Last week, the Fredericksburg Parks and Recreation Commission received an update on the project after the City Council last month agreed to some changes to the construction plans.

The revised plans for the Sunshine Ball Park facility, which is being built by the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation, call for an "ability field", a specialized baseball field for disabled athletes and the expansion of an administrative building to include a children's oceanography center. 

Members of the Parks and Recreation commission had questions about how the oceanography center would be funded. The 3,600 square foot "Exploration Command Center" would be affiliated with the JASON Project, which seeks to get children involved in oceanography and biology. The JASON Project is the brainchild of oceanographer Robert Ballard, made famous for discovering the remains of the Titanic. The center would feature real-time interactive exhibits which link to active oceanographic studies, allowing visitors to participate in underwater expeditions from the safety of dry land 

When Parks and Recreation Commissioner Ken Kroko asked about the long term implications for staffing and maintenance of the new science and technology center, he was met with a resounding unknown.

"I'm a little concerned about that," said Bob Antozzi, Director of Fredericksburg's Department of Parks, Recreation and Public Facilities. "There wasn't a lot of discussion about that by council, and now it's going to go forward."

Ward 4 Councilor Bea Paolucci, also a member of the Parks and Recreation Commission, said it was her understanding that the city would not be paying to operate the JASON facility.

City Manager Beverly Cameron agreed, saying that activities at the oceanographic educational center would be funded entirely by the JASON project. 

On April 6, . Among the proposed changes initially sought by the foundation were the conversion of one planned fields to the ability field, reducing the size of another synthetic turf field, as well as changing a third field from astroturf to grass. The expansions of the administrative building to house JASON project activities was also proposed. 

In the end, the council balked at the field size reductions, agreeing with Antozzi that such changes would make the field unusable by the city's 11 and 12 year-old little league. The council only agreed to modify the plans to allow for the construct ion of the ability field and the addition of JASON project facilities to the administration building. 

Costs to construct the complex as originally planned have outpaced fundraising, despite bringing in $2.8 million in donations and securing a $400,000 construction reimbursement from the city.