TOTTENVILLE — A $5.5 million baseball stadium at the South Shore Little League started construction Monday after almost a decade in planning and months of delays, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced.
The Joseph A. Verdino Jr. Field of Dreams, named after a 10-year-old Staten Islander who died a decade ago, will have elevated seating for 275 people, recessed dugouts, a press box and more when it opens to players next year.
"Ball players all across this borough are going to benefit from this beautiful facility," de Blasio said at a Monday morning news conference posted on YouTube. "This is a good day for the South Shore of Staten Island and all of Staten Island. It's a good day for the city when the kids are getting this facility."
The stadium will replace the league's existing field on Bedell Avenue used for their majors division.
The push for the new stadium was started by Verdino's family after the baseball loving 10-year-old died in 2007 from viral encephalitis.
"They lost a son, 10 years old, there's nothing worse, that's what parents dread every single day," said Sen. Charles Schumer. "They are making sure that Joseph Jr. is remembered in a very fine and good way."
The project was announced in 2008 and fully funded almost a year ago with money raised by elected officials and the league itself, the Staten Island Advance reported.
The existing field was boarded up to start work but the project was delayed for months by city agencies due to permit issues, the Advance reported.
Schumer said he called de Blasio during his week working remotely on Staten Island to try and get the project back on track. The mayor set up a meeting with city officials the next week and construction finally started on the field Monday.
