Lake County Fielders Ballpark, Coming Soon?

[GBearFan]

The Northern League expansion draft has been completed and as of today (Nov. 2, 2009) the Lake County Fielders website states there are 221 days ‘til opening day. Does anyone out there have any news about the new ballpark in Zion? Has construction started? If so, what is the estimated completion date?

I remember a few years back, another northern Illinois team (Rockford RiverHawks) was promising to open a new stadium at the start of the 2005 season. They held a groundbreaking ceremony on May 1, 2004 but actual construction did not begin until the following fall/winter. Well, due in part to a cold, wet winter, the RiverHawks did not open their new stadium until May 2006 (two years after breaking ground). It was hard to get any news out of the Rockford organization about construction back then.

Now with 200 days and change from the start of the 2010 Northern League season, we have no news about the ballpark in Zion. Lake County Illinois is located NORTH of Chicago on Lake Michigan. Winter in that area is not the most optimum construction time.

YO FIELDERS, PLEASE LET THE FANS KNOW WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH THE STADIUM!!!

If any of you Northern League or Lake County fans have news about the status of the the Zion ballpark, please post it here.
THANKS!

8)

[nlfan]

They had a ground breaking ceremony yesterday Thursday, November 6. Questions about actual construction starting (like you mention with Rockford) have been asked for months. (Fan photos of the event (http://nlfan.yuku.com/topic/3407))

Because of the winter construction start there remain some questions if they'll have it ready for their home opener on June 11, 2010. But you'll notice the date is their 21st game of the season. (Fielders 2010 schedule (http://www.lakecountybaseball.com/fielders-games-schedule.aspx))

[caretaker110]

I don't think there is any money in place to build this park and do not see the Government paying for it

[ca]

caretaker 110
put those 2 statements together and imo you'll see why the fielders may never see a game anywhere near lake michigan's sw shore . towns cant afford to put public safety or schools at risk for something that private enterprise wont pony up for in the 1st place . so if no one is making this happen in or maybe near ne ill that really doent say a lot about the market that as far as i'm concerned is overcrowded and the fl mucked up back in 03' in neighboring kenosha . i hope the fielders arent a rd show like gary that has turned out to be one of the poorer draws in the nl

[ca]

happens the moral of this story will be listen to youre head not bravdo when making educated opinions on what some of these "owners" will do for if they were a coach they couldnt provide bus service for a team

[BCRantzilla]

caretaker 110
put those 2 statements together and imo you'll see why the fielders may never see a game anywhere near lake michigan's sw shore . towns cant afford to put public safety or schools at risk for something that private enterprise wont pony up for in the 1st place . so if no one is making this happen in or maybe near ne ill that really doent say a lot about the market that as far as i'm concerned is overcrowded and the fl mucked up back in 03' in neighboring kenosha . i hope the fielders arent a rd show like gary that has turned out to be one of the poorer draws in the nl

Which is too bad because after a very rough start to their history the Railcats are arguably one of the best teams in the NL year in and year out now.

[MJHankel]

Hey now, the RailCats were second to last in the Northern League for attendence last year. But consider what that is saying, they were second to last in a league that has teams with the top attendence numbers in all indy ball. Also Gary has better attendence numbers than most of the teams in the AA, Can-Am, GBL, Frontier and Atlantic league. Just sayin. I believe the should have better numbers, but you gotta keep it in perspective.

[ca]

why cant the fielders have a turf field instead of waiting on a sod field to take hold at their new park ?

[JAKMAN]

Statement from Fielders:

Zion, IL. The long-awaited arrival of the Lake County Fielders minor league baseball team is drawing near. The Fielders Stadium in Zion, IL will be ready to host Fielders games on Friday, July 2ndat Green Bay Road and Route 173. The July 2nd game will feature post-game live entertainment and fireworks.

All 15 Fielders home games currently scheduled in June will be played at the Carthage College baseball stadium in nearby Kenosha, WI. Single game tickets for June 11-June 30 games will cost five dollars for adults and will be free of charge to children 12 and under.

Ticketholders who purchased full season tickets for 2010 will receive tickets to all 15 Fielders games at Carthage College and a reserved padded bleacher seat season ticket at the 2010 Zion stadium for all 35 games. The Fielders will also give season ticketholders a free 2010 Northern League Season Pass that will admit them to any Northern League game at any location throughout the League free of charge for the 2010 season. 2010 season ticketholders will additionally receive a pre-selected ticket seat location for 2011.

Customers who purchased single game tickets to a June home game in Zion are able to use that ticket to attend that corresponding game date at Carthage College. They will also receive a voucher for any two additional 2010 Fielders games, along with a voucher for any two additional 2011 Fielders games.

Additional information on ticket policies for those games may be found at fieldersbaseball.com or by calling the Fielders’ ticket office at 847-731-8000.

The Fielders, co-owned by Academy Award winner and baseball enthusiast Kevin Costner, are a member of The Northern League, which plays a 100-game schedule from mid-May through early September.

-30-

Yeah, another Costner bomb. Go figure.

[Ken, Steelheads fan]

caretaker 110
put those 2 statements together and imo you'll see why the fielders may never see a game anywhere near lake michigan's sw shore . towns cant afford to put public safety or schools at risk for something that private enterprise wont pony up for in the 1st place . so if no one is making this happen in or maybe near ne ill that really doent say a lot about the market that as far as i'm concerned is overcrowded and the fl mucked up back in 03' in neighboring kenosha . i hope the fielders arent a rd show like gary that has turned out to be one of the poorer draws in the nl

MJ is right. The Northern League has the highest average attendance of all independent baseball leagues. That poorer draw in Gary is an average of 3600 fans over 48 home dates (50 dates now). Most minor league baseball franchises can only dream of putting up numbers that high.

[J.J. Smith]

I take Northern League attendance figures with a grain of salt, based on personal observation. My own experience with Schaumburg and Joliet is that the claimed attendance figures are WAY overstated. In Schaumburg last summer, the figures claimed seemed about double the number of people in the stands. In Joliet, it was common knowledge that free tickets were readily available, especially in the second half of the season. Even with that, the numbers were overstated. From what I've read, that seems to be more common than not with most indy teams. Have no personal experience with Gary, so maybe their numbers are on the up and up. Don't know.

This is the formula that seems to be used for many teams:
Tickets actually sold at any price+ tickets given away+ 500=attendance!:)

[GBearFan]

Getting back to the primary topic of the Lake County ballpark, the Fielders have finally announced their temporary ball field in Zion ‘will not” be ready for the scheduled June 11th home opener. According to their website, the 15 home games scheduled for June will be played at the 450 seat Carthage College ballpark in Kenosha, WI.

The field in Zion is now set to open on July 2nd. It will have temporary bleacher seats and temporary lights. According to an article in the Lake County Sun, construction on the “real” stadium, banquet hall, and movie theater is slated to begin in September after the Northern League season ends.

[ca]

maybe zion will get their new pk going but if the nl thought it was a pain to get to 8 teams 10 will give pain a new definition

[nlfan]

LC's home opener is about an hour away (as I write this). This local story ran about the event: http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/newssun/news/2456858,5_1_WA02_FIELDERS_S1-100702.article It describes in (light) detail how they'll have 15 tents for concessions and other "amenities" (like portapoties). More pictures of the facility can be found elsewhere on the web (in the usual place).

Note that they won't have lighting for night games until July 26 so all the games will be played during the day. Most have been rescheduled for 4:45PM.

As for expansion...
(Commissioner) "Cluck" Griffith would probably say that teams #9 and #10 would be Omaha and Topeka. The former would be at the new CWS ballpark and financial disaster (both in rent and direct competition from the O-Royals). The latter is being run by Ventura Sports Group that owns 2 clubs in the AA and working several others in that league.

[Pudge63]

http://ballparkbiz.wordpress.com/2010/07/03/fielders-debut-in-front-of-6823/