New Home For Proposed Field Of Dreams In Gloucester Township

Gloucester Township, NJ -- The Field of Dreams project is on the move.

The Field of Dreams is a proposed handicapped-accessible baseball field, designed to accommodate baseball and softball players with physical and mental disabilities.

In addition to other upgrades from the typical ball field, the Field of Dreams includes an artificial-surface infield to make it easier for those in wheelchairs and walkers to play the game.

The field was originally slated to be installed at Community Park on Hickstown Road in the township’s Erial section.

The project was first approved in 2012.

However, the proposed site has since been changed to the Gloucester Township Sports Complex at Valleybrook, where a softball field was outfitted with artificial turf as part of a recent project at Community Park. The softball field is rarely used, save a tournament that is held once a year, Business Administrator Tom Cardis said during township council's Sept. 26 meeting.

The field will serve the same purpose, according to Sam Sweet, who is on the committee for the project.

Dugouts will need to become ADA compliant, and improvements need to be done to the building and the parking lot in an effort to get the facility ready for the spring, officials said.

But officials said there will be a difference in cost.

Cardis said during the meeting that the project at Community Park would have cost in excess of $600,000. He said it will be cheaper to move the project to Valleybrook, but didn’t know the exact cost.

In March, Gloucester Township Republican Committee Chairman Ray Polidoro asked council why it didn’t include the Field of Dreams project as part of the $2.9 million borrowed for this year's artificial turf project at Community Park.

At the time, Mercado said Polidoro raised some good points and that he would confer with Mayor David Mayer on the situation.

The following month after meeting with the mayor and the Rotary Club, Mercado said the artificial turf project would move forward without the Field of Dreams.

Additionally, Mercado says a miscommunication between the township and the Rotary Club concerning a $75,000 grant for the Field of Dreams has been cleared up.

The issue was raised at the Sept. 26 council meeting, when Sweet asked about a $75,000 grant that was erroneously made out to the township instead of the Rotary Club, and that the Rotary Club still had not received that money.

However, Mercado said that when he spoke to Cardis about the grant, he had no information on it.

At the time, Mercado clarified that there was a $25,000 grant to be put toward the project that was in the township’s possession, and he said he would follow up with Rotary Club Treasurer Joe Castor.

In an email Wednesday afternoon, Mercado said that the township met with the Rotary Club on Tuesday, and that the club was confused as to a $50,000 grant the township had applied for related to the project.

“Mr. Castor had included a $50K grant that he and some former members of the committee thought was realized. It was not,” Mercado said.

He said there is $48,000 in an account at Audubon Savings that had been raised, in addition to the $25,000 grant.

“The township remains committed to providing funds from the Open Space Fund to supplement improvements that may be needed,” Mercado said.

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