2 new baseball diamonds coming to St-Leonard

Montreal's east end borough of St-Leonard will be getting two new baseball diamonds.

The project, worth $3.2 million, will see the two diamonds built in Giuseppe-Garibaldi Park, near Blanger and Linart streets.

The province of Quebec will be investing about $1.6 million.

The rest will come from the City of Montreal.

"It's important to have our sports infrastructures in good shape to respond to the citizens' needs and to help the development of sports," said Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre.

Over the last nine years, youth baseball in the borough has spiked.

According to Baseball St-Leonard, there are now 24 different teams across six different categories in the borough -- and morechildren are on waiting lists.

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"This project will respond to the growing demand and will offer players a friendly meeting place to play their favourite sport,"saidFilomenaRotiroti, MNA for Jeanne-ManceViger.

"I hope they will use the park in large numbers,"

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One of the new baseball diamonds will be built for bantam teams and players in lower categories.

The other, which will be a synthetic field, will be for baseball players in senior categories.

The project also includes a new field for mini soccer.