Field of dreams: Non-profit group gives life to former Cape Breton baseball field

After years of fundraising a community group in Glace Bay, N.S., has given an old baseball field new life.

Generations of players have taken to the No. 11 ball field over the years, but the area has seen better days.

"My dad played here from 1947 to the late fifties and early sixties with the Glace Bay Miners Senior Baseball. It brings a lot of memories back that way," said resident Nick Bonnar.

Bonnar also played baseball at the field, along with coaching and umpiring.

He's says it's a place where friendships and many memories were made.

"There would be nothing to see two or three thousand people here for a baseball game when my father played and then the Senior Miners always drew well. Most of the guys were miners and guys would get off work and come watch their buddies play baseball. The Senior Miner baseball team was a well-oiled machine that won a lot of championships," he said.

For the last number of years the field was left dormant however, on Sunday it was a beehive of activity.

"In number 11 particularly the whole area is filled with fairly low income. So it's seniors, its college students, it is young families with little children and there was absolutely nothing for them to do here," said Margaret Kuchma, organizer.

The field will soon be home to a new walking track, basketball court, outdoor skating rinks, a garden, and several activities for families, including movies under the stars.

Kuchma says the project will cost $100,000 – most of which has been donated by the community.

"Now everybody driving here and everyone working here donated their time. A lot the materials have been donated and even the ones we paid for were given at cost, so the community has really come on board with this," she said.

For Bonnar this field will always be about the good times he had here, but his hope is others soon create memories in a space that's been here for generations.

"It's great for the community. I think every community needs something of this stature," he said.