It was once the very model of a modern ballpark, but 25 years later Fair Grounds Field is showing the effects of time and a less-than-aggressive maintenance budget, as Shreveport evaluates the future of the home of the Shreveport-Bossier Captains (independent; American Association).
Built for $3.5 million, Fair Grounds Field was designed to be a basic, functional ballpark, as former Shreveport Captains (Class AA; Texas League) owner Taylor Moore told the Shreveport Times:
“We were a very, very nice stadium, but it was pretty bare bones (compared) to what’s getting built now,” Moore said. “We were bare bones, but a very, very structurally sound stadium. We kept referring back to the deterioration of old SPAR Stadium and even Independence Stadium and said, ‘We can’t have that.’ It’s still structurally sound, but it has some amenities that need to be brought up to date.”
Since then, there’s been some serious deterioration in the facility. Bats (the flying kind, not the ones of the field) have infested the ballpark, and no one is safe from them — Tim Calderwood, the voice of the Gary-SouthShore RailCats (independent; American Association), reports being hazed by one in the press box in the Captain’s Club while preparing for his radio broadcast — and other parts of the ballpark are less than alluring, including the restrooms. After 25 years, the city will need to look hard and fast as to whether more money is put into renovations or whether a new facility is in order.
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