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Want to buy a ballpark? $1.5M for Rockford facility

Rockford Aviators ballpark

The home of the Rockford Aviators (independent; Frontier League) is on the auction block, with opening bids suggested at $1.5 million.

Northside Community Bank of Gurnee, Ill. holds the note to the ballpark (Aviators Stadium) and land parcel, which is located in Loves Park, a suburb of Rockford. The auction is bring run by Rick Levin & Associates; you can view the auction listing here. Take some time to look at the attached documents to see where previous sales fell through and exactly what’s involved with the purchase.

Aviators Stadium

Here’s a description of the parcel from a 2013 appraisal:

The real estate appraised is briefly described as a baseball stadium with a gross seating capacity of 4,246 people. The baseball field dimensions are 315′ down the left field line, 380′ to straight away center, and 312′ down the right field line. The stadium features a wide concourse at the upper portion of the seating area, full concessions, office areas, washrooms, and supporting areas. There is also a prefabricated 4,500± square foot building located on the site which is utilized as the clubhouse, as well as a new 6,000± square foot family pavilion located down the third base line. The stadium was constructed in 2006. The improvements are situated on a 994,475± square foot site of which is zoned CR, Commercial Retail District. Jurisdictions governing the site include the Village of Loves Park, Rockford Township, Winnebago County, and the State of Illinois.

A nice piece of trivia not noted in the appraisal: the prefab building used for the clubhouse was once occupied by Green Bay Packers players during the 2001-2003 time period when Lambeau Field was under renovation.

In any case, the ballpark lease runs through the 2015 season, so you could conceivably set up your own team there beginning in 2016.

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