Gang's all in: World-renown architect will design Women's Baseball Museum in Rockford

Los Angeles Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani is not the only one who can make a great pitch and blast one out of the park in the same game.

That's exactly what Kat Williams and others did when they homered on their sales pitch to world-renown architect Jeanne Gang to design the International Women’s Baseball Museum at Beyer Stadium in Rockford.

Two days after Gang's designs for the museum were made public, Williams, the International Women's Baseball Center president, could hardly contain her excitement.

"Jeanne Gang! Jeanne Gang! Jeanne Gang! This is enormous," she said loud and clear through the phone.

"We worked so hard just to get to the point where we could even have a conversation with the likes of Jeanne Gang. So, we are celebrating that and we are working hard to raise money for the museum. And knowing that Jeanne Gang is a part of this is going to help us raise money."

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Gang, a Belvidere native, is regarded as one of the most prominent architects of her generation. She was named the 2016 Architect of the Year by Architectural Review, and in 2019 Time magazine named her one of its 100 most influential people in the world.

"When we approached her about the project, she expressed an almost immediate and very genuine interest," Williams said.

"She loved the idea that first of all it's going to be in Rockford, and secondly, this is an important thing that we're doing for the local community and for the broader International Women's Baseball community. She got that and understood how important that was."

Gang, who has offices in Chicago, New York and San Francisco, could not be reached Wednesday for comment.

At the suggestion of Gang, the museum would be located on donated land on Seminary Street across the street from Beyer Stadium Park.

On the ground floor, the centerpiece of Gang's modern museum design features a Rockford Peaches bus.

The Rockford Peaches, who were members of the All-American Girls Baseball League in the 1940s and 1950s and who are forever immortalized in the 1992 film "A League of Their Own," called Beyer Stadium home for more than a decade.

The ground floor design also includes exhibit space and a courtyard, a cafe, fieldhouse, activity room, gym/community room, lockers and showers, a stretching room and restrooms.

The upper level will feature more exhibit space, event space, a lounge, batting cages, a meeting room, board room, restrooms and solar panels.

Plans are also in the works to build an outdoor museum or memorial on the north end of Beyer Stadium.

The project is estimated to cost about $15 million.

Former 17th Judicial Circuit Court Judge and IWBC board member Rosemary Collins also was a part of the contingent that recruited Gang. She said the architect's involvement raises the stature of the project.

"There will be people who come to see this building because it is a Jeanne Gang building. There will be people who come to see it because they love baseball. And there will be people who love the history of baseball, but I think equally important students of architecture and students of Jeanne Gang will come to see this building."

In addition to adding Gang to the team, Chicago-based professional fundraiser Kim Swinton also is on board with the project.

"She works directly with Jeanne Gang, and they have worked on several projects together," Williams said. "We are working to launch a large capital campaign that will hopefully happen this spring."

Chris Green: 815-987-1241; cgreen@rrstar.com; @chrisfgreen

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Jeanne Gang recruited to design women's baseball museum in Rockford