Boston College High School and the University of Massachusetts-Boston will hold a ceremony to break ground on a shared community baseball complex Thursday afternoon at BC High. The complex, which will include a Fenway Park replica, will be named J. Donald Monan, SJ Park after the chancellor of Boston College, honoring his educational leadership and commitment to the Boston community.

Monan will attend the ceremony, along with UMass-Boston chancellor J. Keith Motley and athletes and mascots from BC High and UMass-Boston.

The project was made possible by a $2 million commitment from the Yawkey Foundation, and the complex is scheduled to be completed in November.

Monan Park will meet Division 3 standards and serve as the home facility for UMass Boston, which previously played home games at Campanelli Stadium in Brockton. The main field will be a 500-seat stadium including a synthetic-turf playing surface with the exact dimensions of Fenway and a replica of the Green Monster. It will have full-size bullpens, dugouts, and batting cages as well as full lighting.

The complex, which will be located on BC High’s campus, also will have a secondary playing field for practice and sub-varsity games.

The fields also will be venues for Boston’s Park League — America’s oldest amateur baseball league for men ages 19-25 — as well as Babe Ruth League games for Dorchester and South Boston. The complex also will host baseball-specific and summer camp programs.

 

bostonglobe.com

Report Abuse