“If you build it, they will come.”
This iconic line from the 1989 movie Field of Dreams still resonates in 2025, especially at Five Counties Children’s Centre.
In the movie, Iowa corn farmer Ray Kinsella (played by actor Kevin Costner) hears a voice telling him that if he builds it (a baseball diamond) in his cornfield, they will come — ghosts of great players from the past who will return to play baseball.
Sure enough, it works in the movie, just as it did for real at the Five Counties site in Cobourg.
Over the past three years, a vacant parcel of land behind the site — what we call our field of dreams — has been transformed into a safe, fully accessible outdoor space for treatment, recreation, cultural awareness, and outdoor education programs.
Dubbed the Northumberland Backyard Project, we built it — and children, parents, families, supporters, dignitaries, and others came out last Thursday (June 19) for the official opening to see and experience the space.
VIDEO: From Field of Dreams to Amazing, Accessible Reality
Completed at a cost of $376,000, the backyard project includes accessible amenities like a rubberized track for wheelchairs/bikes/mobility devices, sensory play equipment, a slide, and wheelchair swing.
There are also other play features, raised garden beds, stage area, gazebo, Indigenous cultural awareness space, sunshade cover, storage sheds, and safety fencing.
With a few final refinements and enhancements in the works, the backyard space is already proving a hit with children, parents, families, and service providers.
Dr. Beverlie Dietze, an early childhood educator/researcher and outdoor play specialist, is an expert on the power of outdoor play to benefit children.
She joined us for the official opening on June 19, and beautifully summed up what the accessible outdoor space means for the Northumberland community.
“Today is more than a ribbon cutting,” she noted. “It’s a celebration of what your community values: children, inclusion, and knowing the essential role that outdoor play experiences have on children’s development.”
This accessible backyard space is a true example of the power of partnerships.
Five Counties joined with the County of Northumberland, Northumberland EarlyON Child and Family Centres, YMCA Northumberland, and Nogojiwanong Friendship Centre to lead and champion the project.
With a significant boost from capital grants provided by the provincial government and the Ontario Trillium Foundation, the project took off. Local companies, service clubs and organizations, and individual donors also pitched in with financial support. The net result is a backyard for which we can all be proud.
Each of the partner agencies sees value in the backyard space as an enhancement of the programs and services they can provide to children and youth of all abilities.
Krista, one of our Five Counties clinicians, is among them.
“Having that rubberized track and the backyard just opens up a new world of accessibility and wonder for the kids and myself,” she notes. “You can just look out there and see the possibilities of the different things that we can do together.”
Another of our Five Counties clinicians, Colleen, has described accessible playgrounds, play areas, or ones with accessible features this way.
“Play is how kids learn, and unstructured play opportunities in these kinds of accessible settings benefit all children — those with disabilities or exceptionalities, and those without,” she says. “These spaces become a place for children to interact, have fun together and build understanding and empathy, while forging new friendships between kids of different ages and abilities.”
That’s been the vision of our field of dreams. We’ve built it, and we’re so grateful children and families in Northumberland are coming to play and embrace it!
