Town Puts $50,000 Toward Miracle League Field

By delaying some scheduled maintenance and improvements to athletic fields, the town has pulled $50,000 from this year's budget to contribute to the volunteer effort to build a ball field for children with disabilities.

Town council members voted unanimously for the resolution to support the building of a Miracle League field — the first in New England — at the athletic complex on the corner of Trout Brook Drive and Asylum Avenue. Organizers would like to break ground on the project, which includes a rubberized surface that accommodates wheelchairs and other assistive devices, in the late spring.

"We received a request and originally contemplated incorporating it into the budget process," Mayor Scott Slifka said at the council meeting. "But we have an opportunity to make a contribution now. ... The timing is very critical to this project."

Town Manager Ron Van Winkle told the council that the budget regularly includes funding for maintenance and improvements to fields all over town.

"We looked at our work schedule and felt we could postpone some of that work," Van Winkle said. "We think we can do that and take advantage of this opportunity."

Two weeks ago, two of the co-founders of the Miracle League of Greater Hartford — Scott Franklin and Michael Michaud — came before the council to ask for help with their funding efforts. The cost of the field, without a restroom, is about $210,000, Franklin said, and more than $100,000 has already been raised. 

With the $50,000 from the town, the league is much closer to its goal and has a better shot at grants and other funding sources, organizers said. On Tuesday night, all three co-founders — Franklin, Michaud and Ronit Shoham — were on hand to hear the support from council members.

Slifka talked about how significantly the field would change the lives of children with disabilities and how important it was for the town to support the private fundraising efforts of the league in this "era of limitations."

"We have the opportunity to get this done, and I'm just thrilled to do it," Slifka said.

Council members each expressed their support for the project, which is linked to the West Hartford Little League.

"I think it's one more way that the town of West Hartford shows that we really care about our whole community," Denise Hall, one of two Republicans on the council, said.

Council member Leon Davidoff said the Miracle League vote was "one of the most meaningful and significant votes I've cast."

"If there's any community in the world that can do it, West Hartford can," he said. "We pride ourselves on being a town without barriers."

For more information or to make a donation, go to miracleleaguegh.org