The city of Parkersburg will soon be home to Iowa’s third Miracle League ball diamond for kids with disabilities, and the first outside of the Des Moines metro. Matt Waller is chairman of Diamonds and Fields, the organization behind the Miracle League field and the town’s new sports complex. Waller says they pour cement out and it is a flat surface, and then add a rubberized surface similar what is used on a track. “It’s colored, the outfield is green, the base paths are white, there are bases. The pitching mound and base paths are brown. So from an aerial view, it looks like a ball diamond,” Waller says.
The entire complex will be handicapped accessible. Waller was exposed at an early age to people with disabilities, especially his brother. He says his brother got hurt in a car accident when he was 12 and his parents had to take his brother all over to play wheelchair basketball.
Waller says he’s glad to help northeast Iowa break new ground for families with disabled children. He says it’s the first all-inclusive sports complex built in the state. Waller says they want to open up some opportunities for people.
The effort to build the complex received a major boost late last week, with the announcement of a $50,000 grant from MidwestOne Bank.
The state’s other Miracle League facilities are in Ankeny and downtown Des Moines. Parkersburg’s Miracle League field is expected to be finished by next fall.
(Reporting by Austin Draude KLMJ Hampton)