Field of dreams coming to Cheadle

Melissa Strle
Times Reporter

 

The Cheadle Lions Club “field of dreams” is quickly becoming a reality since the group started working on its 100-year anniversary project to redo the baseball diamond at the Cheadle hall.
The group has been working on the project over the last few years, and volunteers were sodding at the diamond on Oct. 21-22 to help set this dream field into reality.
Darren Cockx, president of the Cheadle Lions Club, said the field will be open to players in the spring.
“It’s a dream come true out here,” he said. “We’ve all got smiles on our faces. It’s a lot of work but it’s just phenomenal to see it.”
Cockx, along with Jason Tanton, Rick Zeroni and Sonny Warrick, are all Cheadle Lions Club members and have been pushing the project forward to get it going.
A small slow-pitch diamond was used at the Cheadle hall for years, but Cockx said they decided to build a new one since there is such a shortage of ball diamonds in town and in the area.
The Lions purchased land in order to build the baseball field and make it bigger, and are building a midget- and bantam-level hardball diamond. There will be two foul lines so different age groups can play on it.
In July of this year, the group received approval from Wheatland County to move ahead with the project. The group has had to start the paperwork process and sift through all the red tape to purchase and rezone the land and attain required permits before it could begin creating a baseball field. It was a lengthy process of approvals.
“It’s been an ordeal to get to this level,” said Cockx.
There will be an irrigation system in the new diamond and it will be considered an elite diamond. The Lions plan to utilize the space with the hall and anticipate there will be a lot of kids playing on the diamond throughout the year.
Cockx said elite diamonds are rare, with only one in Strathmore, at Kinsman Park.
“There are some diamonds in Carseland at the Ag Society, but not for this level of ball,” he added.
Gray’s Limited, an excavating contractor in Strathmore, has donated well over $100,000 towards this project. According to Cockx, Gray’s had at least five pieces of equipment operating ‘non-stop’ on site for a few months, including packers and trucks hauling.
“They need to get some recognition for that,” said Cockx. “We wouldn’t be able to do it without them.”
Cockx said the Lions started with a base, and a bunch of suppliers have come forward and donated their time and supplies into the project. Sod companies such as Manderley Turf and Eagle Lake Turf Farms have stepped forward to assist the group.
Ace Surveys donated all their time as well to help with planning, and Warrack Farms have donated countless amounts of clay and trucking, said Cockx.