Arctic Bay鈥檚 recreation co-ordinator has been hoping to get a baseball diamond for his community for quite some time.

He, along with the community of Whale Cove, will get that chance thanks to the charitable arm of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Arctic Bay and Whale Cove were two communities announced as recipients of a grant from the Jays Care Foundation鈥檚 Field of Dreams initiative. A total of $1.2 million was announced on April 22 for 16 communities around the country with the two Nunavut communities being the only ones North of 60 receiving money. Arctic Bay will be receiving approximately $45,000 while Whale Cove鈥檚 grant is worth $16,000 and will go toward covering the cost of installing a new backstop for the existing diamond.

Thomas Levi, Arctic Bay鈥檚 recreation co-ordinator, said he鈥檚 been waiting on this grant since 2019.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been pushed back because of Covid-19,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 was really happy and relieved when they told me the grant was approved.鈥�

That grant money will take care of the lion鈥檚 share of the funds needed to build the diamond. The total cost has been pegged at $55,000 with Levi saying the hamlet will take care of the rest.

鈥淭hey approved the other $10,000 we needed,鈥� he said.

Once it鈥檚 completed, Levi hopes to have a full-size diamond with artificial turf, dugouts for the teams and stands for spectators. To help make sure that happens, Levi got in touch with Synthetic Turf International out of Kelowna, B.C., to see what they could do to help.

鈥淚 called them and told them what we were looking to do,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey gave me a quote for four people to come up and help build and they鈥檒l be coming up once the snow disappears.鈥�

If you鈥檝e ever been to Arctic Bay, you鈥檒l know there isn鈥檛 a lot of flat land in which to work with and Levi said the diamond will be built on the flattest land available: by the mountains.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 the only place we can build it,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 not much flat land in the community.鈥�

Levi has other projects he鈥檚 looking to have completed now that many of the Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted, one of which is to have turf laid down over the holes on the golf course in the community.

鈥淚鈥檒l see if the people coming can help with that if they have the time,鈥� he said.

Other projects, such as two new playgrounds, are on hold for the present time, he added.

But he鈥檚 just happy to get the baseball business taken care of.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been four years since I applied,鈥� he said. 鈥淧eople have been waiting for it and once it鈥檚 built, everyone can come and play on it.鈥�