City to spend $400K at former Rockford Peaches stadium jump start $15M transformation
City officials plan to spend $400,000 on improvements at Beyer Stadium in hopes of attracting high-profile women's baseball events to the field where the Rockford Peaches once played.
Droves of fans turned out for recent events like the U.S. Women's National Baseball Team's open practice and exhibition game, held in August before the team headed to Thunder Bay, Ontario for the Women’s Baseball World Cup. But International Women's Baseball Center President Kat Williams said the field at Beyer — though already much improved — needs more work if it is going to host bigger high school, college, international or World Cup games that count.
"We drew a bigger crowd in Rockford for that exhibition game than those women play in front of on a regular basis," Williams said. "It was very nice and believe me, they noticed, as did the World Baseball Softball Confederation. We would love to be able to host a stage of the Women's Baseball World Cup, but there are a lot of things that have to happen."
Beyer Stadium improvements are one of a several "phase three" investments Rockford City Council has approved for the city's remaining $3.2 million worth of American Rescue Plan funding.
The money would be used for things that are needed to turn the historic field into a viable place to play modern games that count on the record books.
Among them is adding an electronic scoreboard, adequate bleachers, irrigation system and new bathroom facilities. Others include padding the top of the fences, adding batting cages near the dugouts and grading the field — it's not level and there is a noticeable hill in the outfield. Lights which can be cost prohibitive are on a wish list.
Those investments could kickstart efforts to transform Beyer Stadium and a nearby parcel into a $15 million women's baseball museum campus with activity center, baseball hall of fame, umpire training facility and more. A capital campaign will formally launch soon, Williams said.
The museum and campus is being designed by Belvidere native and world-renown architect Jeanne Gang.
Immortalized by the hit movie "A League of their Own," the Rockford Peaches played at Beyer Stadium for more than a decade in the 1940s and 1950s as part of the All-American Girls Baseball League.
"This is a gem, and it's a gem in a neighborhood of Rockford that needs it," Williams said. "We're investing a half-million in that neighborhood. So what we're looking for is a way to kind of jump start this."
Jeff Kolkey writes about government, economic development and other issues for the Rockford Register Star. He can be reached at (815) 987-1374, via email at jkolkey@rrstar.com and on Twitter @jeffkolkey.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Peaches stadium upgrades could bring international teams to Rockford
