In early December, the non-profit Ocracoke Youth Center was awarded $75,000, plus a $7000 matching funds endowment for the land acquisition and building fund for Ocracoke Community Park.
The park is located on over five acres, and the first goal of the OYC is getting a multi-use ballfield ready for baseball season.
I met OYC president Vince O'Neal out at the ballfield site to see the progress being made. We stood near the future site of home plate (fun fact: baseball fields run north-south so that neither team has the disadvantage of squinting directly into the sun) and talked about how beautiful it is there.
"It just worked out that this is the best spot," Vince said. "It was going to be a tract with six houses; now it's green space for the whole community."
The volunteer-built bulkhead is almost finished – "one more day's work with six guys" will get 'er done. Brian Samick, David Scott Esham, and Darren Burrus have been organizing the bulkheading efforts.
With the bulkhead in place it will be time to pump sand, put in a green, build the infield, build the fence, and play ball! It's looking good for home baseball games in the spring.
And so many games there will be! There's Little League baseball, middle school baseball, varsity high school baseball (new this year!), and girls' softball (also new this year!) The field will also double as a soccer field, which will no doubt lead to soccer leagues for footballers of all ages.
"There's a tremendous amount of interest in an adult softball league," Vince said with a smile. "There's some of us that used to play…."
OYC also has plans for phase two of the Community Park project; there'll be a parking lot, a new youth center, and walking trails. The park borders NPS land near Loopshack hill and Vince hopes that the trails can lead there.
"We're open to the idea of community events and fundraisers here," Vince said. "It's really exciting that the island has a place where we can do events to benefit everybody."
The Ocracoke Youth Center board is comprised of Vince, Brian Samick, David Scott Esham, Garick Kalna, Tyler Gilbert, Melinda Sutton, John Giagu, Justin LeBlanc, and Bob Chestnut. Many other local people serve on committees to help with the ball field project. Some fundraisers are in the works for later in the year, but for now, the board is grateful for the OBCF grant. They are keeping their focus on fun times ahead.
"We need to get the kids out here playing," Vince said.
Read more about the Field of Dreams in this article from August 2012.