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By Pieter Uni
Mount Boucherie could be the new home of the Green Monster.
The Kelowna Jays are exploring the possibility of making the Mount Boucherie ball diamond their permanent home, after Jays president Bill Bayne spoke to council Tuesday about bringing the club over the Bennett Bridge to West Kelowna.
According to Bayne, the Jays and West Kelowna staff have tentatively worked out an agreement that will see the Jays play approximately 12 regular season games, along with overflow games from their Canada long weekend tournament, at the Mount Boucherie field this season.
Upgrades to the Boucherie diamond, including extending the left field wall by 15 feet and creating a high wall, similar to Fenway Park’s Green Monster, will need to be completed if the Jays are to play in West Kelowna this season and will cost approximately $10,000.
The decision to play ball in West Kelowna came after the Jays found it increasingly difficult to secure optimal playing time at Elk Stadium, their current home.
“We love playing in Kelowna and at Elk Stadium but there is no room for us there,” said Bayne. “To keep our program alive, we need another park.”
For Bayne, moving the team permanently to the Westside would be beneficial for both the club and the community.
“For us it would mean more games, more practices and it would give the Jays program more stability,” he said. “And we would be building local pride while brinGing in valuable sports tourism dollars to the area.”
Coun. Rosalind Neis agreed with Bayne and stressed the importance of bringing another sports team to West Kelowna.
“I have been to a lot of eventS where people speak on the values of sport,” said Neis. “The Jays are in a situation where they are running out of room to play, so if we can assist them and encourage sport in our community, I think it is a win, win situation.”
The Jays will continue to work with council, who asked the organization to begin calculating the short term and long term costs of upgrading the field.
While the process in moving the team to the Westside is in its infancy, Neis believes the Jays have taken the right approach in trying to make West Kelowna their new home.
“I think that they are going about this in the right way. By playing there this season, it allows everyone to wet their appetite,” she said. “The Jays can see if the field functions for them and city staff and council can see the impact of having them at Mount Boucherie, good and bad.”
Bayne said he was pleased with the response the proposed move got from council.
“Initially, everyone seems to be very enthusiastic,” he said. “Now we have to keep working with their staff and put together a plan that works.”
Bayne said that in a best case scenario the Jays would make West Kelowna their home by next year.
“If the money was available, you could do it for the 2011 season, but reasonably it could get done by 2012.”
sports@kelowna.com
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Tags: Baseball, Kelowna Jays, Mount Boucherie, West Kelowna
