‘We can’t catch a break’: Thieves take copper from Bedford, N.S., baseball field

Copper was ripped from the lighting at a baseball field in Bedford, N.S.

A baseball community in Bedford, N.S., says they’re filled with “anger and frustration” after they say thieves stole copper from the Robert Lenihan Baseball Field over the weekend.

Ken Lenihan, the president of Bedford Minor Baseball, says he received a call from a Halifax Regional Municipality staff member, informing him copper had been taken from the field’s electrical poles.

“When the phone call came, I was told it was just two. But under further inspection, there are four of the six poles that have been targeted,” he says.

The field was named after Lenihan’s parents. He says he was disappointed to learn about the incident.

“It’s heartbreaking because youth sports is what I’ve dedicated my life to. I came up playing in Bedford Minor Baseball and continued the tradition that my parents were instrumental in. It does bother me,” says Lenihan.

He says work is still being done to restore the baseball field that suffered damage during the historic flash floods that hit parts of the region in July 2023.

“It took…probably about a year to get the lights back up and running due to the flood. The amount of money that it cost to do that, we’re still not fully back…our canteen is still needing some repairs from that flood. That’s the disappointing part. It just seems like we can’t catch a break,” he says.

Even though the minor league baseball season is over, Lenihan says the field is still used regularly by the community.

“This facility is, if not the most utilized in all of HRM…This facility needs to get back up and running.” he says. “Six of the seven days, this field is used with the lights.”

Holly LaPierre, president of Hammonds Plains Minor Baseball, says the facility has served as a home field for other sports communities.

“Hammonds Plains Minor Baseball, this is their home field for many of our leagues, because we don’t have a field in Hammonds Plains to accommodate this age level…and it’s not just us, there’s adult softball and adult baseball that play here. It’s affecting many, many different organizations for our community,” says LaPierre.

Laura Wright with the Halifax Regional Municipality told CTV News Thursday city staff will be filing a police report.

“We need the investment from HRM back into this facility to make sure we could be up and running in the spring,” says LaPierre.

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