‘Play Ball’ at the Lamont Sports Park

“Play ball!”
Those words – 13 years and $6 million in the making – rang out repeatedly June 24 at the official opening of the Lamont Sports Park that drew generous donors, happy politicians, honoured baseball greats, and excited fans to a former gravel pit at the south end of Port Elgin that has been transformed into a state-of-the-art baseball facility with four lit diamonds, a shelter and trail access. Phase two includes two additional diamonds and an accessible playground.
The phase one price tag was $6 million – phase two is estimated at $4.6 million.

Generous donors sat with members of the Illuminating Dreams fundraising committee who made the “asks” – generating $1.8 million – as the mayor dedicated the facility to the service of the community.
In his welcoming remarks, Saugeen Shores Mayor Luke Charbonneau called the facility is a “shining testament” to the spirit of the community and to the achievements of working together.
“May it be a place where we have lots of fun, where we have lots of teamwork, where our teams have lots of victories, and most important of all… may it be a place where anything is possible,” the mayor said.

First in a very long list of generous donators to the facility were Harold and Chayle Sutherland, the previous owners of the property, who sold it to the town and also made a “very sizeable” donation, according to the mayor who called the Sutherlands up to the microphone as a banner marking their contributions was unfurled.
“Enjoy it,” Harold Sutherland said of the property that he operated as an aggregate pit until 2019.

The rich history of baseball in Port Elgin, Southampton and Saugeen Township was detailed by local historian Bill Streeter who dated ball playing back to the 1920.
He introduced Southampton’s Doug Huber, known as an exceptional softball outfielder in the 1950s, and Ron Bruce who played for local, regional and provincial championship teams in 1940s and unveiled two commemorative plaques telling the story of baseball in this community.

Streeter also detailed the history of the 151-acre property, first recorded in 1851 and owned by the Clements family and traced by Streeter, a member of the Town’s Municipal Heritage Committee, through the decades, including the Lamont family in the 1970-1995 and the Sutherlands who “negotiated a favourable agreement” with the Town for the property, he said.

It was hard to tell who was proudest – Vice Deputy Mayor Mike Myatt or Ron Stanley, co-chairs of the Illuminating Dreams fundraising committee that raised $1.8 million (the goal was $1 million.)
Myatt thanked his co-chair, Town staff, the fundraising committee, and his wife Jean, for their dedication and hard work.

Mayor Charbonneau said Bruce Power’s importance to the project would be hard to over state as it donated $250,000 to the project and leveraged an additional $225,000 from its suppliers.

Bruce Power CEO Mike Rencheck said he grew up in a small town and all they had was baseball and standing at home late brought back all those summer memories.
“I can’t tell you how proud Bruce Power is to be an Illuminating Dreams…