Provincial funds flow for Port Arthur Stadium, Baseball Central

The 2017 Under-18 Baseball World Cup got a financial boost from the province today.

About $1.5 million in funding for the tournament which will take place next fall in Thunder Bay, Ont. was announced Friday at a media conference outside Port Arthur Stadium.

Of the total, $983,000 is coming through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC), and $500,000 from the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport.

"This is going to attract people from all over the world," said Eleanor McMahon, Ontario Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport. "So, when we think about showcasing Thunder Bay to the rest of the world, we want to have a facility that can welcome visitors from around the world ... and will attract kids from this community, and the surrounding communities, to come and play baseball here."

"I think there's a straight-line connection between getting kids excited about sport, and them being more active themselves, and that's in everybody's interest."

Most of the money will go to improvements at Port Arthur Stadium and Baseball Central, the fields that will host the international teams at the World Cup, said Larry Hebert, president of the Thunder Bay International Baseball Association.

Among the changes at Port Arthur Stadium are a rebuilt infield and the moving of the bullpens to behind the right field fence.

At Baseball Central, a field is being constructed, and drainage improvements made, Hebert said.

The changes are necessary to bring the fields up to the standards required by the Under-18 Baseball World Cup tournament, Hebert said.

"We had the people from Major League Baseball come in last year," he said. "[They]said 'you gotta do this, this and this, or we will not allow you to host the tournament.'"

Some money is also going toward marketing, as well as some infrastructure alterations required to host a TV crew from Japan that's expected to be in town covering the tournament.

"We have no proper Internet set up at Baseball Central," Hebert said. "We'll also be doing some work at the [Thunder Bay Community Auditorium]in terms of a studio and places we mightdo interviews."

The infrastructure improvements will go beyond the 2017 Under-18 Baseball World Cup, as well,said MichaelGravelle, Ontario Minister of Northern Development and Mines, and the chair of theNOHFC.

"This will be great for the [Thunder Bay Border Cats], but it'll be great in terms of bidding on other events," he said. "There's other international sporting events that we can bid on and we'll be in a better place to be successful."

"We were very pleased to support it."

Hebert said more funding is still needed, however. Organizers are waiting on word from the federal government on funding that would cover the remainder of the costs; the total tournament budget is more than$2 million.

"We do need other money," Hebert said. "Hopefully sponsorship money, as well, will come through for us."

The Under-18 Baseball World Cup takes place in Thunder Bay from Sept. 1-10, 2017.