Lamont Sports Park Donation (Photo provided by Town of Saugeen Shores)
The Lamont Sports Park fundraising committee is getting ready to host an unveiling event this summer, following receiving a $50,000 donation.
Vice Deputy Mayor for Saugeen Shores and committee co-chair Mike Myatt says they received the donation from the Society of United Professionals to support phase two of the campaign.
This phase is devoted to the development of two youth baseball fields and an accessible playground.
Myatt says this donation brings them to over $600,000 in total, getting closer to their $1 million goal. He adds the funds are not coming from government grants and are purely made of community donations.
The committee says this marks the seventh donation received towards the campaign, and entitles the society to naming rights for one of the new six baseball diamonds.
Myatt adds they have six significant donations they have yet to announce, which they will unveil in the coming weeks.
“The campaign is going really well and we can’t say enough about how the community has risen to the occasion here and made lots of donations to the campaign,” says Myatt.
Myatt says on June 4, residents will be invited for a first viewing of the new park from noon to 4 p.m. to celebrate the completion of phase one. The event will also encourage attendees to help launch the second phase’s open fundraising campaign where residents will be able to contribute, where as before it was limited to organizations and businesses.
“The gates are open for a sneak peak at the park, there are some 18 bagpipers coming up from Kincardine to do some bagpiping, we have got kids who will guess their speed on a radar gun by throwing a ball into a net, we have got some professional athletes to help with the day for pitching demonstrations, we have got free food which is always nice,” says Myatt. “Lots of fun activities for the whole family and we are inviting people to bring their cheque books out and help our campaign committee reach our goal so we can get these two youth minor baseball fields built for 2023, so it is all very exciting.”
Myatt adds after phase two is completed, there are still 15 to 20 acres left of land, but municipal council will have to, at some point, decide what they would like to do with the parcel. He says while they do not have a timeline, there will be a phase three.
“Council of Saugeen Shores, mayor and council have to at some point talk about a feasibility study, needs assessment, and community consultation around what phase three could look like. Is it soccer, is it cricket, is it a beach volleyball court, we don’t know. It is something council really hasn’t discussed yet,” says Myatt.
Myatt is encouraging residents who would like to donate to the campaign to visit the Town of Saugeen Shores website.