EL1 Reading Fightin Phils

Construction begins on Gordon Hoodak Stadium at Lauer's Park

June 22, 2005 - Eastern League (EL1)
Reading Fightin Phils News Release


Reading, PA - A groundbreaking ceremony to kickoff the construction of Gordon Hoodak Stadium at Lauer's Park was held on Wednesday, June 22 at 3 PM on site. Construction will be completed by the spring of 2006. Local professional baseball legends "Broadway" Charlie Wagner, "Cooter" Jones and Dick Gernert did the ceremonious first dig with chrome shovels.

Gordon Hoodak Stadium is a youth baseball facility being built on the site of the old Lauer's Park that will share grounds with the current Lauer's Park Elementary School. The school is named for the former stadium.

The funds for the project are being raised by Baseballtown Charities, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization affiliated with the Reading Phillies. The completed stadium project will cost $850,000.

The Olivet Boys and Girls Club and the Reading School District will use the new ballpark. Baseballtown Charities will turn the stadium over to the Reading School District upon completion and the district will lease it to the Boys and Girls Club for $1.00 a year.

"The goal of Baseballtown Charities is to provide more kids the opportunity to participate in America's national pastime so they can benefit from the life lessons taught by the game," said Chuck Domino, Reading Phillies general manager and president of Baseballtown Charities. "We believe this facility will allow the children of the Olivet Boys and Girls Club, the Sixth Ward and Reading School District to play in a first-class baseball facility right in their back yards."

The Lauer's Park site was chosen for historical reasons. It was once the home of a stadium that housed several Reading professional baseball teams from 1907-1941 and baseball legends like Babe Ruth, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, Rogers Hornsby and local hero Charlie Wagner have played there. The site is located across from the corner of North Third and Elm Streets behind the elementary school. Home plate for the youth field will be in what was center field at the old park.

The new stadium will be one of the leading youth facilities in the region. It will feature a 60-foot long covered grandstand that will accommodate approximately 120 individual seats; dugouts and bullpens; concession stand; handicapped accessible restrooms; stadium lighting; and a 12-foot high outfield fence with asymmetrical distances ranging from 175-200 feet from home plate. The field will be a regulation youth diamond (60 feet between bases) and will be used primarily by the RBI Baseball League. Plans are also to use it for tournaments, girls softball, a community-wide home run derby and Reading Phillies youth baseball clinics.

The stadium will be named in honor of current Lauer's Park elementary school principal Gordon Hoodak. An anonymous donor contributed $200,000 for the naming rights. Other funding and sponsorships have been secured by Baseballtown Charities, which will also be committed to covering any additional construction costs and maintenance costs on an annual and perpetual basis.

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