By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Community donors whose vision and financial contributions helped make possible the city’s Field of Our Dreams sports park were thanked publicly during a donor appreciation event at the facility Wednesday.
Work toward construction of the Field of Our Dreams complex, located at 105 Vista Park off Kings Way on the city’s north side, began about a decade ago, master of ceremonies Peter Ojeda said as he welcomed the guests of honor and other attendees.
Ojeda introduced the speakers, beginning with Del Rio Mayor Pro-Tem Alfredo “Fred” Carranza Jr.
“One of the reasons we serve on the city council is for moments like this. This has been a lot of hard work, and it wouldn’t have happened without all of you,” Carranza said, singling City Manager Matt Wojnowski and City Planner Janice Pokrant out for special thanks.
Carranza also emphasized the major donors to the facility represented local businesses investing in the city’s quality of life.
Ojeda read the list of community partners and major donors, who contributed some of the land and made major financial donations toward the construction of the facility, including Bill Nixon of Buena Vista Development Co., the Del Rio Chamber of Commerce and its economic development committee, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Nick Khoury and The Khoury Group, the Rotary Club of Del Rio, Texas Community Bank, Val Verde Regional Medical Center, Amistad Bank, Border Federal Credit Union, Little Acres Nursery, Plaza Del Sol Mall, Gerald Prather, the Del Rio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Ramada Inn of Del Rio, Cripple Creek restaurant, Studio 6, Buffalo Wings and Rings restaurant and the Val Verde Community Foundation.
Val Verde County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. reminded those present that the work toward the creation of the sports park began as a grassroots community event, with local contractors and lumber yards donating supplies and work to create a series of tiny houses that were raffled off to raise funds for the park.
“It was a hometown, group effort,” Owens said.
Owens said work begin done by the county at the county fairgrounds, the Alcoa Fields off Frontera Lane and the large county property near Laughlin Air Force Base will tie in to the sports park by further enhancing the local quality of life and facilities for youth sports.
Sylvia Owens of Texas Community Bank spoke on behalf of the Del Rio Chamber of Commerce’s economic development committee.
She said the project was conceived when many different community members, elected officials and businesspeople came together to discuss Del Rio’s needs and decided one of the city’s foremost needs was for more youth and adult sports fields.
“That’s how the dream began, then came putting the ideas together and getting the work going and raising funds,” she said.
After raffling the small “casitas” created by local contractors, she said, the group began to look for land, which was provided by the city and a donation of additional land from Nixon and his Buena Vista Development Co. Owens said the project also got a huge boost with a $100,000 pledge from Khoury and The Khoury Group.
The city council and county commissioners court members pledged in-kind assistance, and the project was off and running.
“This wouldn’t have happened without the support of everyone here . . . It is a ‘field of dreams,’ that was the dream of many, and today we celebrate because we can see the fruit of all our work,” Owens said.
Owens singled out Pokrant for her hard work and dedication on behalf of the project.
City Councilman Jim DeReus gave the closing remarks.
“The thing about this project was always ‘how are we going to make it happen?’ We were all committed to it,” DeReus said.
DeReus lauded the vision that preceded the project’s inception and the drive and consistency that led to its construction.
“Everyone was involved; that’s the only way these things are going to happen, and we need to continue this. There are so many things we would like to do, that we can do, when we collaborate,” DeReus said.
County Commissioner Pct. 3 Beau Nettleton, in whose precinct the complex is sited, has been a staunch advocate for the creation of more youth sports facilities.
“This is a great facility. It’s a good start in the direction we need to go for our youth. This plugs a small hole in our needs, but there’s still a lot more needs to meet, such as for indoor sports facilities, soccer fields, PeeWee football. When you look at the number of children that play some sort of sport, you begin to see that that need is, but we need to continue working on these types of projects,” Nettleton said.
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