Campbell’s Bay is set to enhance its community park with a new ballpark fence, funded by a $72,378 grant from the province’s education ministry. The grant is part of the Programme d’aide financière aux infrastructures récréatives, sportives et de plein air (PAFIRSPA), which supports projects to improve sports and recreational facilities across Quebec.
The project was due to start in September, but Campbell’s Bay director general Sarah Bertrand explained the project will start in October so as to not disturb the ongoing ball season.
“We don’t want to disturb the games,” she said. “It will take about a week to remove the old fence and put up the new one.”
The current fence, which Bertrand said was installed in 1970, will be replaced with a new, stronger, and safer structure, according to the press release.
Bertrand explained the ballpark is the centre of the community in a lot of ways, and said a lot of the events hosted in the community revolve around sports at the field.
“Everything we do, like fundraisers and stuff like that, it’s always based around a ball tournament,” she said. “We’ve been wanting to replace the ball field fence [ . . . ] We’ve been applying for grants since 2018. It’s great to finally see it happening.”
Back in June, sports recreation and outdoor minister Isabelle Charest announced the PAFIRSPA program, adding that the program would receive $300 million from the Quebec government to help fund 322 projects across the province.
Campbell’s Bay mayor Raymond Pilon said in a press release that he was thrilled to finally receive the grant for the project.
“This modernization not only improves safety and sustainability but also strengthens our commitment to maintaining top-notch facilities for our community. We look forward to the positive impact it will have on our local sports programs,” Pilon said in French.
