East Lyme — After two years of fundraising and receiving the broad support of the region, The Miracle League of Southeastern Connecticut said its plans to build a sports field for children with disabilities are moving forward despite the COVID-19 pandemic and actually are ahead of schedule because of it.

Despite Gov. Ned Lamont’s Stay Safe Stay Home orders signed last month dictating all nonessential employees work from home, construction projects throughout the state have not been affected. And because school let out indefinitely last month, the field, which is being built behind the Flanders Elementary School with construction arranged around school schedules, now has come to fruition much quicker than the previously expected June completion date.

Though that’s exciting and positive news, said Dave Putnam, executive director of The Miracle League of Southeastern Connecticut, children likely won’t be able to play on the field the day it is finished in mid-May because of social distancing protocols.

Putnam said he hopes by summer, some events can be held on the field. He also hopes the completed field will be a happy surprise for Flanders Elementary students once they return, as they will be able to use the field during recess.

“It will be cool for the kids to come back to school to see this new facility now available for them, too. When they left, it was just an empty field,” Putnam said, who is also the town’s parks and recreation director. “Knock on wood, but we are hoping to use the field in the summer. We want to schedule the heck out of it and have some opportunities to get kids out on it. We were hoping for soccer clinics, lacrosse clinics, special events ...”

It will be the first Miracle League field in the region, and the second in Connecticut after one was built in West Hartford in 2012.

Designed by TO Design of New Britain and built by Earth Dynamics of Coventry, the East Lyme field will serve as a “regional attraction” and space for children with physical and developmental challenges to play team sports on a field specifically made to accommodate their needs.

The field will feature boundary-free dugouts, flat baseball field plates and can be converted to be used for sports such as baseball, lacrosse, soccer, frisbee and flag football. It also includes a 500-foot handicapped-accessible sidewalk built from the front parking lot, as well as a new basketball court with 10 varying, colorful backboards and rims for kids of all abilities to play with and challenge themselves.

The basketball court, which was being completed this week and costs about $50,000, was paid for in full by the Kevin’s Kourt Project of the Kevin Ollie Charity Classic and 21st Century Tolland Fund, Putnam said. Kevin Ollie is the former head men’s basketball coach for the University of Connecticut.

Now five weeks into construction, the field will be made with a synthetic turf surface — with short “nap” to simulate green grass — and will not be made with crumb or infill rubber. It will include bleachers, a score board and dugouts, “like a normal Little League field,” but is a tad smaller in overall size to better accommodate children with disabilities. The playing surface should last up to 12 years, Putnam said.

“It still gives the kids an opportunity to hit a home run,” said Mike Michaud, executive director of The Miracle League of Connecticut. “I know on our League field (in West Hartford), we have some kids who can (hit a home run) and it’s such a big deal when that happens.” He oversaw the fundraising and construction of the West Hartford field when it was built in 2012.

The $550,000 East Lyme field was entirely funded through private donations. Putnam said that besides the various fundraising events and ideas that community members have pitched to raise money for the cause — such as trivia nights or creating the Niantic Bay IPA and donating proceeds from sales — organizations from throughout the region, which have included Dominion, Geico and the Eastern Connecticut Chamber of Commerce, as well as many others, also each have pitched in as much as $25,000 to $30,000 in donations. It took just two years to raise the full $550,000 needed to build this first phase of the field.

Putnam said the Miracle League has continued raising money for the second phase — already raising nearly $100,000 of the $500,000 needed — to build an accessible playground and restrooms next to the field.

“Down here (in southeastern Connecticut) there was a grassroots effort and a lot of grant writing to make this field happen,” Michaud said. “And in the end, I think that’s better because it just grows the awareness of the field so much more in the community. The community really got behind this here. And that makes such a difference.”

Once the pandemic passes, Putnam said the town Parks and Recreation Department will start organizing regional league teams for children with disabilities to play sports on the field. He said other events also will be planned there, such as movie nights and trick-or-treating. He also hopes to celebrate the opening of the field with a ribbon-cutting, inviting everyone who had helped or donated to the field to celebrate its completion.

m.biekert@theday.com