Volunteers demolish All Saints School to make way for ‘Field of Dreams’

By Craig Westcott/December 16, 2021

It will be hard to believe for some, but All Saints School in Foxtrap is no more.

While the school building located along the connecting lane between Greeleytown Road and Dunns Hill Road that bears the school’s name has been vacant for years, it lives long in the memory of its graduates. In addition to being a school, the site also hosted an outdoor rink for some years before CBS was even a town, and in more recent years continued to serve as a favourite place to play softball.

In fact, it’s the site’s future use as a premiere softball facility that led to the recent demolition. The site has been taken over by the CBS Softball Association, which intends to build a state-of-the-art softball pitch there.

Public works committee chairman and Ward 3 councilor Gerard Tilley reported on the demolition at last week’s public council meeting.

“All Saints School in Foxtrap is now history,” Tilley told his colleagues. “It’s officially torn down. And while the physical building is now gone, a lot of residents in CBS have fond memories either through attending school there or, for me personally, dealing with CBS Minor Softball. I’d like to thank Town staff and a lot of businesses who donated their time and their vehicles and their equipment and who assisted the CBS Minor Softball Association in the removal of debris from that site. Of course, this particular area is well known, and the Town looks forward to partnering with the CBS Minor Softball Association to making that corner of All Saints Road and Dunns Hill a beautiful park in the near future. So, our hats are off to the CBS Minor Softball group.”

Tilley noted the group has been holding weekly bingos at the Royal Canadian Legion in Kelligrews to raise money to create their “Field of Dreams.”

Mayor Darrin Bent agreed with Tilley’s sentiments. “Yes, it’s fantastic, it’s going to be a great addition to our town, replacing the school there,” he said. “I know a lot of councilors here have a lot of memories from that school and from that area, but I think the new memories that are going to be made from that facility and new park will be fantastic.”

Ward 4 councilor Melissa Hardy, who grew up in Foxtrap and attended All Saints, also congratulated the softball association. 

“The Town of CBS supported them,” said Hardy. “There was over 90 tonnes of debris that was removed. We’ve had a handful of people who are really leading this initiative, so a great big kudos to them, they all have busy lives outside this Field of Dreams project. You have Jill Warren, Pam Fagan, Amanda Upshall and Darlene Rousell. I know what they are doing behind the scenes.”

Hardy added that without the support from some businesses and others, including the Lions Club, and Choices for Youth, the recent demolition would not have been possible.