With Opening Day just around the corner, flooding around Modern Woodmen Park is causing access issues for Quad Cities River Bandits (Low A; Midwest League) staff.
Modern Woodmen Park is located on the banks of the Mississippi River in Davenport, IA, leaving prone it to the effects of flooding. Although flood walls are keeping water out of the ballpark, rising water levels have done enough damage to the surrounding area to limit access to the ballpark, with only about half of the River Bandits staff currently working out of Modern Woodmen Park.
Opening Day is just a week from today and the team is scheduled to begin using Modern Woodmen Park for workouts on Monday, so the River Bandits and Davenport officials are trying to figure out solutions to address the access issues. A bridge–a common solution in the past–requires that trains be stopped in order for construction (trains must be stopped when water levels exceed 19 feet), so alternate options could be explored, particularly with water levels expected to rise ahead of Opening Day. More from WQAD:
On Thursday morning, the river was sitting at 18.33 feet.
While the river is expected to rise even further before game day, [River Bandits General Manager Jacqueline] Holm said they need to look at all of their options.
“Sometimes (the chance of canceling games is) 50-50, and until you can get a little closer to that day, hedging your bets at this point is not something we are prepared to do.” said Holm. “We are, of course, prepared to play baseball, and we will operate as such until we hear different.”
Holm said the City of Davenport has been very cooperative, but both the ballpark and the city are at the mercy of Mother Nature and of the trains.
Flooding in the surrounding area has not been an uncommon issue at Modern Woodmen Park, but the River Bandits and Davenport officials have found ways in the past to continue ballpark operations. Modern Woodmen Park itself is reportedly for Opening Day, so the games could proceed on schedule if the access issues are addressed.
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