The seeds for this project, the Hawks Dream Field, came from the family of Walter McNeil of Dominion. Walter, at the age of 70, passed away on June 23, 2019. He was a founding member of the Dominion Community Hawks Club and a baseball enthusiast from the time he could hold a ball in his hand. He played ball in his youth and went on to coach baseball for many years. He was a mentor for many of the youth in our little town. Walter was a true family man who loved helping his community. Since his passing, the family wanted to continue his legacy with a project that would have a positive and lasting impact not only for the residents of Dominion but the whole CBRM.

In August a committee was struck and plans are well underway for the revitalization and upgrading of the Hawks baseball field in Dominion to make it 100% accessible to people of all ages, abilities, gender and socioeconomic status. The new Hawks Dream Field will feature the following:

Grading and leveling of the field to make it wheelchair accessible

New fully-accessible dugouts and grandstands (also new fencing where required)

Walking track around the perimeter of the field

Building a new facility on site that will house a fully accessible washroom, regular family wash room, storage area and an accessible canteen.

Accessible splash pad (screened for safety)

Official sized bocce ball court for children, adults and seniors (screened for safety)

Historical space to depict the rich baseball history in Dominion and the CBRM

Lighting installed

Electronic scoreboard to be mounted on the new building

This million dollar project, will transform our area into an all-inclusive accessible recreation destination for residents of the whole Cape Breton Regional Municipality. A true dream field, where awareness and first involvement begins! The Dominion Hawks have been playing ball since 1911! We want to see children of all ages and abilities play ball together and make history. More than baseball, on the field we envision Special Olympic sports such as bocce, seven-a-side soccer and softball. We also envision the start of a Challenger Baseball League. Eventually our hope would be to include paralympic sports such as archery and 5-a-side football. Our Hawks Dream Field will ensure all children and seniors within CBRM who want to be active, have an accessible destination.

We are incredibly excited about this very grand project! This will take a lot of time, energy and money but what we need most of all right now is the support of our community! We have met with Mayor Cecil Clark, Councilor Darren Bruckschwaiger, Manager of CBRM Recreation, Kirk Durning, and Manager of Parks and Grounds, Allan Clarke and all are in support of this endeavor. We have a lot of work ahead but we will do it and it will be amazing!