West Mobile Schmidt Family Park Ceremony Coming Up

The Miracle League is holding a groundbreaking ceremony on October 29 for baseball fields and a playground in West Mobile for children with special needs, as detailed by the Mobile County Public School System (MCPSS) in July. The event will take place onsite, where Schmidt Family Park will be constructed: on Johnson Road, approximately two miles southwest of the Airport Boulevard/Snow Road intersection. The special-needs baseball field will feature a synthetic rubberized turf that accommodates wheelchairs and other assistive devices, while helping to prevent injuries. It will have double-wide lanes, allowing the players more space as they round the bases. A regular baseball field for middle-school-aged children will also be built, with a long-term goal to eventually build a school on the site to serve special-needs and autistic students. Donations were made for land and funds from the Alabama Pecan Development Co., Inc. (more than 24 acres); Schmidt-Barton Family Fund, South Alabama Utilities (more than 4 acres), MCPSS and the Mobile County Commission. The Schmidt-Barton Family Fund pledged to give up to US$1 million in matching funds toward the estimated construction cost of US$3.2 million.