A disagreement between the Birmingham City Council and Mayor William Bell over addition spending on Regions Field, the new home of the Birmingham Barons (Class AA; Southern League), appears to be settled after a compromise was reached yesterday. The issue: Bell proposed an additional $3 million in spending on the ballpark — to be paid […]
Tag Archives | museum
Historic Palmar del Junco to be renovated
Baseball tourism is already big business in Cuba, and officials are sweetening the pot by announcing a plan to renovate Palmar del Junco, a historic facility where the first recorded organized game in the country was played in 1874. The historic game was played Dec. 27, 1874, in Pueblo Nuevo, Matanzas (located about 70 miles […]
Cards’ Ballpark Village plan to receive state scrutiny next week
The $100-million Ballpark Village project pushed by the St. Louis Cardinals will be discussed by the Missouri Development Finance Board next week. The Cardinals are seeking $17 million in state and local tax credits for the project, which is set to feature a St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame and Museum, a live music venue and […]
Didn’t take long: Opposition rises to Shockoe Bottom ballpark site
We predicted this would happen when Shockoe Bottom was revived as a Richmond ballpark site: local proponents of a slave-trading museum don’t see baseball as an appropriate use of the historic site. Former Mayor Doug Wilder pushed Shockoe Bottom as the site of a ballpark for the Richmond Braves (Class AAA; International League), but it was opposed […]
Tampa planning Ybor City baseball museum
A museum honoring Tampa baseball history could be installed in Al Lopez’s childhood home under a plan pushed by the Ybor City Museum Society. Al Lopez, for those too young to remember, was the first Tampa native to play in the majors, joining the Brooklyn Robins (later the Dodgers) in 1930 and spending productive seasons with […]
Developers lining up to take advantage of new Barons ballpark
It looks like one rationale for a new downtown Birmingham ballpark — attracting economic development — is already coming to fruition, as several developers negotiate land deals in the immediate area. The new home of the Birmingham Barons (Class AA; Southern League) has already attracted one sale of land to a developer, with several other […]
Birmingham: Design of new ballpark still evolving
Though final demolition plans for a new Birmingham Barons (Class AA; Southern League) ballpark site are now set, the final design of Regions Field won’t be presented for approval until April. This means the pretty renderings we’ve been showing from HKS are conceptual at this point. But that’s OK: readers of this site seem to […]
Demolition planned for Birmingham ballpark site
A demolition plan has been filed for the proposed site of a new Birmingham Barons (Class AA; Southern League) ballpark, with the Birmingham Design Review Committee slated to review on Wednesday. The current plan for the Railroad Park site, according to the Birmingham News, is to leave the current B&A Warehouse nightclub complex intact but […]
Barons ballpark plan moves forward, adds Negro Leagues museum to mix
Birmingham Mayor William Bell wants to put the framework of a proposed Birmingham Barons (Class AA; Southern League) ballpark to a vote tomorrow — something unlikely to happen — and has restored a Negro Leagues museum to the project. The ballpark plan has moved forward by fits and starts since first proposed by Bell; ironically, […]
Work continues on Engel Stadium preservation
A transfer of Engel Stadium management to a nonprofit will help preserve the historic former home of the Chattanooga Lookouts (Class AA; Southern League), which is sorely in need of some TLC. Engel Stadium opened in 1929 and is very much a product of the era, with the classic grandstand and brickwork throughout the grounds. […]
Orlando baseball plan changes; county still not impressed
Despite shifting the location of a proposed Orlando ballpark for a New York Yankees farm team closer to a convention center, Armando Gutierrez Jr. still faces a huge challenge in persuading Orange County officials to give up a prime parcel of land for a relatively low price. The original proposal had the ballpark located on […]
Museum pitched for Billings’ Dehler Park
Baseball enthusiasts in Billings want to commemorate the city’s hardball history with a new museum added to Dehler Park, the current home of the Billings Mustangs (rookie; Pioneer League) and the city’s American Legion teams. The plan, as presented to the Billings City Council, calls for the Billings Baseball Preservation Society to raise $3.5 million […]
First look: Proposed Orlando ballpark
Armando Gutierrez Jr. continues his attempt to bring affiliated ball back to Orlando, this time with a little taste of what a new Orlando Yankees (High Class A; Florida State League) ballpark would look like. Gutierrez’s plan relies on receiving free land from Orange County at the corner of the Beeline (OK, the BeachLine) and […]