ARTICLE FROM FLORIDA TODAY - November 20, 2009
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Athletic facility for disabled gains support

The vision of creating ball fields for the disabled is closer to reality as Brevard County and West Melbourne officials have shown support for the Brevard County Field of Dreams project.

The older section of Max K. Rodes Park on Minton Road in West Melbourne could be the location of the facility. Originally slated for baseball only, plans now also include accommodations for the disabled in a "boundless" playground, a restroom/concession building, soccer, basketball, bocce ball, shuffleboard and miniature golf.  The Brevard County Commission signed a Memorandum of Understanding in August with Brevard County Field of Dreams, Inc., a non-profit group spearheading the effort.  "I've been working on it for five years," said Dreams founder Jim Tapp of Palm Bay, who toured a similar facility while visiting a small town near Atlantic City, N.J.

The playing surface will be completely paved for wheelchair use, color-coded and covered with a soft surface for safety.  "It just grabbed my heart and I decided we needed one here," Tapp said.  County staff and members of the engineering firm PBS&J met in October to discuss the conceptual plan for the facility, which may be put in the northern most section of the park along Minton Road, Tapp said.  "I think it's a great idea -- there's nothing like it anywhere around here -- and I think it will have a regional draw," said county Parks and Recreation Department Director Don Lusk.  The concept also has gained support from county recreational advisory boards, he said.  All county recreation facilities comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, but they are not designed to accommodate the disabled as players, he said.  The plans are so preliminary, it's hard to guess on a price tag for the project, Lusk said.  Also on board with the idea is District 5 County Commissioner Andy Anderson, where the park is located.  "I think it will be one of those situations where grant and private donations will flood in, making it cost very little to the taxpayer,' he said. "Everybody is supportive of it. We just want to get it done."

The original idea was for the facility to be only for disabled children and located in Palm Bay, where Anderson served as a city councilman.  When that didn't work out, Tapp said he thought the idea would go by the wayside. He expects it will take two years to build, including the completion of the new Rodes Park complex.  "I think things are going to do a lot better now that we've made some contacts who support it. There's a ray of sunshine coming into the community. I've had people stop me on the street to ask about it," Tapp said.  Denise and Michael Klenotich have become so involved with the project, their daughter Brittany, 10, who has cerebral palsy, now is the official Field of Dreams poster child.  "She keeps begging us, 'Why can't I play ball?' One of the hardest things as a parent is to tell your child no and then you have to explain why they can't play the sport," said Denise Klenotich.  "That's why we need Field of Dreams, so we won't have to say no anymore. She shouldn't be robbed of playing any sport. We need something that will help everybody and where nobody will be excluded," she said.

 

 

 

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