Atlantis’s Field of Dreams

The leaves are falling, the temperatures are dropping, and the first flakes of snow are even flying. Spring sports are probably the last thing on your mind. But not at Atlantis. We’re thinking about baseball, softball, and our new Field of Dreams.

Since planning began for our new campus, we made it a priority to give our students the sports and recreational facilities we were unable to provide at our old school buildings. And so far, we have delivered on those promises, building a new gymnasium and a state-of-the-art track and field complex, giving our sports teams home field advantage for the first time in the history of our school.  Next up will be a new baseball and softball field.

The new field will serve both the Atlantis baseball and softball programs. It will be made of natural Kentucky Blue Grass and will include in-ground irrigation, sports field lighting, scoreboards, fencing, a grandstand and bleachers, perimeter walkways, parking and emergency vehicle access routes. Atlantis also intends to share the use of the field as a means for promoting baseball and softball program expansion while nurturing and growing community partnerships with neighboring school youth and adult-based recreation and sports team organizations.

Our partners at Pennsylvania-based ELA Sport have provided a preliminary design for the field free of charge. The sports facility design, consulting and construction management firm was by our side every step of the way through the design and construction of our track and field complex, and it is now helping us get our Field of Dreams project started off right.

“As a firm, we feel vested in what happens next at Atlantis,” said Ernie Graham, principal-in-charge, ELA Sport. “They needed something solid that they could take to local contractors to get some real ideas on construction costs and schedule. You can’t do that until you have something on paper, so we were more than happy to get them started.”

Graham says of the 200 or so fields the firm has worked on across the county, Atlantis’s track & field is one of the projects he got the most enjoyment out of doing. “It was a true pleasure working with Atlantis Charter, and we hope to have the opportunity to work with them again and support them in any way moving forward. They’ve taken a vision and created a fantastic reality. I don’t think many people would have seen the potential in that property that they did. We only did one small component on that campus, but I’m so proud to have been a part of the process.”

To help pay for the new field, Atlantis is preparing to launch a banner campaign in the new year.  Businesses can purchase banners that will be hung on the fencing around the track & field complex.

Atlantis plans to get the whole school community involved in the banner sales including staff, booster club parents, and students.

“We plan to introduce a little friendly competition into this endeavor,” said Michael Lauro, associate executive director of Atlantis. “Student banner sales reps will participate in grade level competitions for prize money. The three grades with the highest sales will receive prize money to use for their choice of school function. We hope this will be a fun learning experience for our students.”

Anyone interested in learning more about our Field of Dreams Banner Campaign, or in purchasing a banner should contact Mary Lee Pomroy by phone at (508) 646-6410 ext. 1061 or email at MaryLee.Pomroy@Atlantiscs.org.