For younger faithful, a little Fenway on deck

Ron Iacobucci knows that when he builds it, they will come.

"Everywhere I go, people -- especially kids -- ask me when it will be finished," said Iacobucci, chief executive officer of Kids Replica Ballpark Inc. , the nonprofit group that is planning to build a half-scale replica of Fenway Park in Quincy. "They can't wait to play on it."

Iacobucci is anxious to put the paperwork and permitting process behind him and start construction, hopefully this fall, on a 12-acre parcel just off the Southeast Expressway, adjacent to the Quarry Hills development and the Blue Hills Reservation. He hopes to see baseball being played in the park by sometime next summer.

The first phase of the project is expected to cost $2 million.

Iacobucci said his organization has a $1 million commitment from a Rhode Island foundation that he would not name and is hoping to raise another $1 million in pledges from a fund-raiser in the fall. The project has also received contributions from corporations, foundations, and individuals, and sponsorships are being sold, Iacobucci said.

The group will be getting money to operate the park from the sale of special license plates that will bear the image of Fenway. In the spring the group took in $150,000 at a kickoff of the license plate effort that was sponsored by the Red Sox. Two golf tournaments this fall also are planned.

The mini-Fenway would be a place for baseball, softball, and tee ball programs for children ages 4 to 17, playing on a regulation youth baseball and softball field. The park would include features of the real Fenway Park and its environs, such as the Green Monster, the Fisk and Pesky poles, red box seats, the Citgo sign, a footprint of the historic field, and a replica of Fenway's 1912 facade.

Teams from throughout the area will be able to use the facility. A lottery system will determine regular-season games to be played there, and all tournament play from the various leagues will be accommodated.

Eventually, the field would be covered from October to April to allow for year-round use, and future additions planned include an interactive museum, a fan fest area, a food court and souvenir shop, a theater, and a clubhouse for teams traveling long distances.

The idea of building a replica of Fenway Park dates to 1998, and was originally the brainchild of former Red Sox player Tim Naehring and his foundation, Athletes Reaching Out, which proposed building a "Little Fenway" for older children. His career ended prematurely because of injury, and he left the city to take a front-office position with the Cincinnati Reds.

Iacobucci's group then came up with the idea of building a mini-Fenway Park for younger children and with a focus on youth development. He filed legislation in 2001 to replace Naehring's group with Mini Fenway Park Inc.

The bill was approved in 2002 and the group began what would turn out to be a two-year process of securing a long-term lease from the state for the 12-acre site and a management and use agreement with the Department of Conservation and Recreation.

With that in place, Mini Fenway Park Inc. formalized its relationship with Major League Baseball and the Red Sox with licensing agreements that gave it permission to use the name and image of Fenway Park in connection with the project, although the name of the group had to be changed to Kids Replica Ballpark Inc. because of a licensing conflict.

Iacobucci expressed frustration at delays in the permitting process, at least partially due to changes in state officials. For instance, he said, he has worked with six different heads of the state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife on the project.

The proposed site for the ballpark is in what state officials say is one of three known habitats of the copperhead snake, which is protected under the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act. Since 2003, the project has also been under the purview of the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act, which calls for certain safeguards when it comes to building in environmentally sensitive areas.

"We are mandated by law to do whatever we can to mitigate the project's affect on the species," said Lisa Capone, spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, which oversees the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife and National Heritage, the two state agencies that have jurisdiction in the case.

"We're confident that an agreement can be reached that will be a win-win, allowing both the project to go forward and protecting the species," she said.

When the discussions over permitting are finally done, and after the first shovel of dirt is tossed, Iacobucci estimates that construction time will be six to nine months. After that, he said, there are only two more words he wants to hear:

Play ball!

For more information on mini-Fenway Park, go to kidsreplicaballpark.org. Rich Fahey can be reached at faheywrite@yahoo.com.