Renovations at a prestigious and well-known Cape Breton ball field are well underway and nearing completion ahead of a national tournament later this summer. Cameron Bowl, located in a bowl-shaped area between Anderson and Cameron streets in Glace Bay, is expected to be completed by mid-July as the Canadian Little League Championship approaches in August. “We’re coming along very well,” said Derrick Hayes, chair of the Canadian Little League Championship Society.
“We have the turf probably 75 to 80 per cent laid and we’ve seeded and tarped over to make it a greenhouse effect to help the grass grow quicker in the outfield.” Plans to renovate the historic Cameron Bowl field began two years ago after the 2026 Canadian Little League championship hosting rights were granted to Glace Bay Little League. GOVERNMENT FUNDING In March 2025, the project received a non-repayable contribution of $250,000 through the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency’s Innovative Communities Fund to the Cape Breton Regional Municipality to go toward upgrades at the field. Along with federal funding, $200,000 was set aside by the CBRM to cover some of the cost of renovations, while $35,461 was provided by the Canadian Little League Championship Society for the project, bringing the total funding for renovations to $485,461.
Last Sunday, the field received $134,000 as part of the Jays Care Field of Dreams initiative, which will also be used for “wish list” projects at the facility. The Cape Breton Post contacted the CBRM to get updated numbers on the project, but they didn’t get back to the publication at press time. Work began at the more than 75-year-old field last summer.
Glace Bay Little League moved its programming to another field in the community to allow for the work to take place. Renovations included a new drainage system, artificial turf infield, a pitcher’s mound and bases. The dugouts have also been renovated, and topsoil has been replaced and seeded for new grass in the outfield.
Hayes also confirmed the building at the field as well as the scoreboard are also getting a “refresh” ahead of the event. COMMUNITY PRIDE Dave MacKeigan, the CBRM councillor for the district who also sits on the organizing committee, said having Cameron Bowl renovated is an amazing opportunity for the Glace Bay and surrounding community. “There’s a lot of pride in our baseball, especially with our Colonels.
They’re the pride and joy of baseball in Glace Bay,” said MacKeigan. “People are excited about it (the national championship) and waiting for it, so it’s going to be a great tournament.” While Cameron Bowl is an important part of the area, MacKeigan recognized the work taking place around the field and Queen Elizabeth Park as well. “It’s a gem in CBRM that needs to be used more,” said MacKeigan.
“Working with CBRM recreation and making those changes, we’re putting in new playground equipment and resurfacing the tennis courts and of course Cameron Bowl is beautiful. It’s going to be great when it’s done, and it’s going to be great for the community. “When we go back to 1988 when we had such huge crowds, if we can duplicate that, it would be awesome, but I’m sure it’s going to be a great tournament.” Over the years, Cameron Bowl has hosted several Atlantic championships and Canadian tournaments.
This year’s Canadian tournament, for 11-and-12-year-old players, will mark the fourth time the event has been held in Glace Bay with the community also hosting in 1988, 1998 and 2013. The Colonels themselves have been successful in the national tournament over the years. The club won the Canadian title in 1987, 1988, 1991, 1994 and 2003.
“It goes to show the effort and the great job that the Glace Bay Little League does, bringing baseball in Glace Bay to the attention of the whole country,” said MacKeigan. “We’re known, we’ve been involved in many tournaments and have been in the Canadian finals and have gone to the world championship, so we have a great reputation amongst the baseball world and we have a great team here and putting it all together to make it happen.” If all goes as planned, Hayes, who’s among 26 people on the tournament organizing committee, said players are expected to be on the field at Cameron Bowl sometime next month. “We’ll have a couple of games on it to sort of make sure that everything is good,” said Hayes.
“It gives us a chance to see if there are any kinks that we have to fix and then we’ll be ready.” While the field has been a household name for thousands of Little League players in the community and beyond, many don’t know the history of the facility. THE NAME The story behind the Cameron Bowl name is one not many understand and reflects a tragic ending for the community. It was Dec.
19, 1913, and students had been dismissed early from school to begin their Christmas break. Three Glace Bay boys — Cameron MacLeod, Clarence Tucker and Ernest Tucker — had been looking forward to the end of classes. When the bell finally rang, they rushed home to get their skates to play pond hockey on a frozen pasture located where Cameron and Anderson streets are today.
After a while, the boys decided to coast their sleighs down the bowl-shaped slope to a piece of property — now known as Cameron Bowl — that was owned by the MacLeod family. At the time, Caledonia Mine had a dam and pumping station at Park Street that had expelled water into the area to create a reservoir on the MacLeod property. Although the cold winter temperatures had frozen the water slightly, it was considered a dangerous area, and several deaths had previously occurred there.
As history would have it, tragedy would again strike the community — only days before Christmas. Clarence Tucker, 11, and Ernest Tucker, 9, proceeded down the slope and onto the ice. It wasn’t fully frozen and the two boys went into the icy water.
Realizing what had happened to his friends, the nine-year-old MacLeod quickly made his way down to the area. In a Christmas Eve letter written by MacLeod’s sister Jessie to her aunt in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Cameron MacLeod had put his life at risk to save the Tucker brothers but ultimately fell through the ice as he reached down to help them. The pumping station alarm sounded, friends and neighbours quickly responded and were led by Caledonia Mine postmaster Maj.
Charles Gallant, who brought the children to the surface. Gallant took the boys to the pumping station, but efforts to revive them failed, and they were later pronounced dead. The deaths saddened the entire township and blighted the spirit of the Christmas season, leaving many to wonder about the details behind the incident.
On Aug. 3, 1951, the piece of property now known as Cameron Bowl was donated by Mrs. MacLeod, fulfilling her husband’s wish of donating the land for a park for the Town of Glace Bay.
Years later, a Little League baseball field was created and was named to commemorate Cameron MacLeod. CANADIAN CHAMPIONSHIP The Canadian Little League Championship will take place Aug. 3-13 at Cameron Bowl.
Along with the Colonels, teams from Atlantic Canada, Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, the Prairies and British Columbia are also expected to participate. The team names were not available at publication time. Glace Bay will open the tournament on Aug.
3 against the Prairies at 5:30 p.m. More information about the tournament will be released in the coming weeks.
