ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – The St. Johns County Board of Commissioners approved $2 million to build an all-inclusive baseball diamond and playground for children of all abilities.
The Diamond of Dreams project will have a carpeted, wheelchair-accessible baseball field, dugouts, a press box, family seating, ADA-complaint asphalt parking spaces, bathrooms, and a wheelchair-accessible playground.
Mike Strausbaugh’s daughter has cerebral palsy and some intellectual disabilities. It’s always important for him to find ways to get his daughter involved, but it’s been a challenge in St. Johns County.
He said aside from the Field of Dreams and park in Aberdeen, there aren’t a lot of places that are catered to people with disabilities.
“We take for granted going in and out of stores,” Strausbaugh said. “We take for granted going and playing on the baseball field or going and playing on a swing set.”
Kendell Hardwick is the project’s coordinator and said they hope to be done with the park in a year and a half.
“I want to break down those barriers and have siblings out there playing together, families together, peers playing with you, so I really want to make sure that we’re capturing all of that,” Hardwick said.
Strausbaugh thinks the impact of the park will go a long way.
“I’m sure, when this park opens up, if you come back out here, and you see the smiles on the people’s faces, and it puts people in contact with people that they may have never otherwise come in contact with.
The money comes from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 which provided emergency funding to support the pandemic response. St. Johns County was allocated $51 million and up to $10 million can be used for capital projects.
St. Johns County had to commit or encumber the money by Dec. 31 or it would have had to refund it.