{"id":95470,"date":"2026-07-25T08:16:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T11:16:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2026\/07\/25\/outfield-grass-issues-causing-delay-in-opening-newly-renovated-bernie-macneil-memorial-ball-field-in-cape-breton\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T08:16:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T11:16:22","slug":"outfield-grass-issues-causing-delay-in-opening-newly-renovated-bernie-macneil-memorial-ball-field-in-cape-breton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2026\/07\/25\/outfield-grass-issues-causing-delay-in-opening-newly-renovated-bernie-macneil-memorial-ball-field-in-cape-breton\/","title":{"rendered":"Outfield grass issues causing delay in opening newly renovated Bernie MacNeil Memorial Ball Field in Cape Breton"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Article contentThe Sydney Baseball Park Association recognized the need for renovations at the Bernie MacNeil Memorial Ball Field in 2022, and the group was able to raise $780,000 for the project.Article contentLast year, the project was approved in the 2025 CBRM capital budget. A tender went out, and construction from a civil standpoint began in the middle of summer, proceeding to the landscaping phase last fall with seed being placed in the outfield at the end of September.Article contentLandscaping continued after the winter months in the spring, and work continues to take place with the goal of having players and teams on the Bernie MacNeil Memorial Ball Field this year.Article content Issues with the outfield grass at the Bernie MacNeil Memorial Ball Field are causing the delay in opening the newly renovated Sydney field, the Cape Breton Regional Municipality confirmed. JEREMY FRASER\/CAPE BRETON POST Jeremy FraserArticle contentDurning said turf-grass fields typically take a minimum of 12 months to complete, noting the Bernie MacNeil project is less than 12 months since construction started.Article content\u201cI\u2019ve heard 700 and some days have passed since this project started and people are still waiting for it to be completed, well, for projects like this it starts with advocacy and fundraising and that may have been when that process got kicked into gear and the potential presentation to council,\u201d he said.Article contentArticle content\u201cWe\u2019re before that 12-month period where you see these types of turf-grass fields really being established and being ready for the stress of play.\u201dArticle contentScott Morrison, founding member of the Sydney Baseball Park Association, said while he understands the frustration about the project, the field is still in the hands of the contractors and has not been transferred to the municipality.Article content\u201cThe contractors have the final say, and they\u2019re at the point where they\u2019re almost ready to release it to the CBRM,\u201d he said. \u201cThe contractors haven\u2019t released the field to be playable yet, they\u2019re trying to and they know everybody wants it, but there\u2019s still some issues and they say the field can\u2019t be used.\u201dArticle content A view from the outfield at the newly renovated Bernie MacNeil Memorial Ball Field in Sydney on Friday afternoon. JEREMY FRASER\/CAPE BRETON POST Jeremy FraserArticle contentWhile Morrison isn\u2019t picking sides in the situation, he said the Sydney Baseball Park Association has to listen to what they\u2019re being told and don\u2019t have a say when it comes to it.Article content\u201cWe\u2019re just listening to what they\u2019re telling us,\u201d said Morrison. \u201cWe can\u2019t risk basically damaging an investment for the municipality. As soon as the field is officially transferred to the CBRM, we\u2019re basically done. Somebody might want to take over and build phase two which would be a building behind the field and continue the improvement of it, but the asset is owned by CBRM.\u201dArticle contentArticle contentAs far as pushback from the community, Morrison said everyone is trying their best to have the field ready for the kids.Article content\u201cThere\u2019s nobody that doesn\u2019t want the kids on the field, so it\u2019s almost a laughable thing,\u201d he said. \u201cWhy would anybody not want the kids there?Article content\u201cWe want to showcase it, we\u2019re proud of that field, that\u2019s four-and-a-half years of work to get to this point, so if the contractors say it\u2019s not ready yet because of this grass issue, unfortunately, it\u2019s them that makes the decision and it\u2019s a big asset to risk ruining.\u201dArticle content A view of the Bernie MacNeil Memorial Ball Field in Sydney from behind the backstop on Friday afternoon. JEREMY FRASER\/CAPE BRETON POST Jeremy FraserArticle contentSome community members have questioned why the Bernie MacNeil Memorial Ball Field isn\u2019t ready while work at Cameron Bowl in Glace Bay is nearing completion, despite that project starting after the Sydney field.Article contentDurning addressed the criticism.Article content\u201cThe national championship was coming, and we knew we had to have the field ready for play for the nationals,\u201d said Durning. \u201cIt\u2019s not open yet either, I was on the field this morning and taking a walk around the fence and stuff and looking at the outfield, we\u2019re almost there as well.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Article contentThe Sydney Baseball Park Association recognized the need for renovations at the Bernie MacNeil Memorial Ball Field in 2022, and the group was able to raise $780,000 for the project.Article contentLast year, the project was approved in the 2025 CBRM capital budget. A tender went out, and construction from a civil standpoint began in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[118,590,1],"tags":[116,589],"class_list":["post-95470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-indigenous","category-newfoundland-and-labrador","category-uncategorized","tag-indigenous","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95470\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}