The historic Wahconah Park grandstand will come down early next year, as Pittsfield (Mass.) enters into exclusive negotiations with Pittsfield Suns owner Goldklang Group on its replacement.
Baseball has been played at the Wahconah Park site since 1892, though the ballpark dates back to 1919 and the grandstand was upgraded in 1950. The ballpark has hosted pro baseball in the form of Eastern League and NY-Penn League MiLB action, Can-Am League teams both in MiLB and indy ball, independent Northeast League ball, an NECBL team led by Dan Duquette, vintage baseball games organized by the late Jim Bouton, and of late the Suns, owned by the Goldklang Group. (Marv Goldklang was once the owner of the Eastern League’s Pittsfield Mets.) The grandstand was condemned in 2022 and the Suns completed in the summer-collegiate Futures League using temporary seating in 2022 and 2023, but the Suns sat out the 2024 and 2025 seasons while talking with the city on a replacement.
The cost of the demolition: $875,000, which also covers the removal of hazardous materials. This work is expected to commence in spring 2026, with construction of an $18-million replacement grandstand anticipated to begin immediately after demolition. It’s a challenging site: the ballpark is located on a floodplain, and the Suns nickname derives from the fact that the grandstand faces west. In the meantime, the city entered into an exclusive negotiating period with the Suns for a ballpark lease.
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