From an airplane’s view, Wilmington’s newest baseball field probably wouldn’t appear at all different from a standard diamond on which any romping team of kids could play.
In the best sense, that’s spot-on.
Called the Miracle Field at Brax Stadium and developed with a smoothly flat and rubberized surface, it’s accessible to essentially anyone, that inclusiveness affording persons with disabilities the chance to break a sweat, play some ball and stay physically active in a safe, welcoming environment.
It’s also of regulation size, just waiting for organized, big-bat game play.
During a special unveiling of Brax Stadium on Saturday, at Olsen Park in northern New Hanover County (click for map), 18-year-old twins Bonnie and Maggie Swann of Hamptstead were giving the Miracle Field’s inlaid bases a serious test run. The results were fairly obvious. Neither could stop smiling.
For their mother, Angela Blanton, that meant joyous tears. Her girls, who live with cerebral palsy–Bonnie needing the aid of a wheeled walker–didn’t have much of an option locally for group recreation, which she and her husband, Jamie Blanton, noted can be a vital part of social life.
“I had my doubts that something like this could be here,” Angela Blanton said on the ball field Saturday with Maggie and Bonnie at her side, all ready to head for the water cooler following a morning of play in the heat. “This is just an awesome feeling,” she said.
“And just having a place to go and meet other kids,” added Jamie Blanton.
“We have big hopes,” Angela Blanton said.
Nearly 20 percent of the population over New Hanover, Brunswick, Pender and Onslow counties is classified as having some form of disability, according to Dr. Dan Johnson, president of Accessible Coastal Carolina Events Sports and Services (ACCESS) of Wilmington. The nonprofit formed to create the Miracle Field and would scoff at the major challenge of fundraising.
“We ignored the economy,” Johnson said Saturday to a crowd grouped beneath the newly installed Brax Stadium archway entrance, the namesake being Brax Fundraising, which partners in the project gave large credit. “We dreamed big,” said Johnson. “Very, very big.”
Opening up a fully accessible sports field–and, as the plan came to include, a fully accessible playground now believed to be one of the largest of its kind in the South–meant a whole lot more than just making good on a good idea, ACCESS members said.
Aside from the specialized materials, like the rubber coating that makes the Miracle Field so unique, the group had to secure the land, and then plot out its development, and arrange for plumbing, for pavement, for lighting, for shelters, for fencing.
Bo Dean, ACCESS director, barely caught his breath Saturday thanking all the sponsors that brought it together. Including $300,000 in seed money raised by local attorney Gary Shipman, the group accumulated roughly $1.3 million in cash and enough in-kind donations to bring the value of the project to $2 million.
The groundbreaking occurred in June 2012.
With Olsen Park managed by the City of Wilmington, the field’s ongoing maintenance and utilities are taken care of (with ACCESS noting that the rubberized surface is a lot easier to deal with than a standard dirt-and-grass facility).
“Your gifts will transform lives that will transform our community forever,” Dean said at Saturday’s unveiling, where local writer and Cape Fear Disability Commission Chairman David Morrison noted “extraordinary collaboration” that will enrich him and “thousands of other individuals.”
Morrison, who is vice-chairman of ACCESS’s board, too lives with cerebral palsy and depends on a motorized chair for mobility.
“Who else can use a Miracle Field besides kids in wheelchairs? Anyone who uses a walker, crutches or other mobility device,” explains ACCESS on its website. “Anyone who can benefit from a flat, safe and secure field. Other users would be special education classes from schools, nursing homes, veteran’s programs and Special Olympics.”
The Blantons, whose Bonnie and Maggie Swann attend Topsail High School, said they hope to bring the field to the attention of the Pender County school district. It would be perfect, they said, for adapted physical education programs.
“Really,” said Jamie Blanton, “it’s a blessing having so many high schools around here that could use something like this.”
ACCESS will hold a grand opening Saturday, Aug. 3, for Brax Stadium and the Miracle Field, as well as for the adjacent Kiwanis Miracle Playground, which has a special, soft surface to take the scrapes out of any tumble. The day’s events, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., will include speakers, an accessibility expo and exhibition games.
Click here to learn more about the facility.
Ben Brown is a news reporter at Port City Daily. Reach him at [email protected] or (910) 772-6335. On Twitter: @benbrownmedia
