The Florence RedWolves franchise is one of the best-run teams in the summer-collegiate Coastal Plain League, but Legion Field hasn’t kept pace with changes in the industry — and team owner Kevin Barth says it’s time to look at a new downtown ballpark.
Even by summer-collegiate standards Legion Field is pretty rough, lacking clubhouses or umps’ quarters, with a small press box and a single concession stand. Barth says that the team’s future is problematic playing at such an outdated facility, a sentiment echoed by CPL commissioner Pete Bock:
“(A new or renovated stadium) is vital for the Florence franchise. The facility that the RedWolves currently play in has served its purpose but is tremendously outdated. Without a new facility or a tremendous upgrade to their current facility, the franchise is impacted in a number of different ways.”
There doesn’t seem to be any organized move toward a new ballpark or even an idea of what it might cost to upgrade Legion Field. You can look at McNair Field, the home of the Forest City Owls, as one example of an affordable new park; it cost $4.3 million and was funded largely by donations. You can also look at the renovations of Warner Park, home of the Madison Mallards (summer collegiate; Northwoods League), as a way to fix up an outdated facility for less than $2 million,
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