Baseball and softball stadium in Allentown, Pennsylvania
Bicentennial Park
Full name
Earl F. Hunsicker Bicentennial Park
Former names
ECTB Stadium at Earl F. Hunsicker Bicentennial Park (2005-unknown, before 2024) Earl F. Hunsicker Bicentennial Park (1987-2005) Bicentennial Park (1976-1987) Fairview Field (1939-1976)
The following year, the Dukes were replaced by the Allentown Fleetwings, which were affiliated with the St. Louis Cardinals.
In 1941, the team as taken over by the Philadelphia Phillies and renamed again, as the Allentown Wings; they reverted to the Cardinals in 1944 and played their final season at Fairview in 1947. Allentown played for the Interstate League title three times in four years, in 1944, 1945 and 1947, but lost each time. The team moved to Breadon Field, a new ballpark just north of the city in Whitehall Township, on August 6, 1948, after playing on the road until then due to construction delays.[5][6]
Fairview Field was renovated in the mid-1970s and reopened as Bicentennial Park in 1976 for use as a softball field. The renovation effort was led by Earl F. Hunsicker who raised an estimated $1,400,000 over an 11-year period, aided by Mayor Joseph S. Daddona and the Allentown Recreation Commission.[7]
Allentown Railers & LANta Land Ownership Controversy
In 2005, the stadium was renamed ECTB Stadium at Earl F. Hunsicker Bicentennial Park. ECTB is an acronym for the Elite Championship Tournament Baseball, a youth baseball organization.[8] The City of Allentown leased the stadium to the ECTB, which in turn subletted the stadium to numerous community organizations which hosted events there throughout the year. At the time, the ballpark could seat 4,600.
In 2009, a controversy emerged over the land on which the stadium existed. LANta, a public transportation service in the Lehigh Valley that owned 0.2 acres of the property extending from the left field parking lot to the left field base line, announced that it planned to build a new garage using federal stimulus money and later expand the site and buy the remaining property the stadium sits on from the city of Allentown.[9] The plan, which would have led to the stadium's demolition, was opposed by the family of Earl Hunsicker and owner Terry Schadler, who opposed the proposal in the Allentown City Council.
After a four-year lease renewal was awarded by Allentown City Council to new stadium owner Dylan Dando in 2016, the matter was resolved in 2017. The property was returned from LANta to the City of Allentown in exchange for existing adjacent land, which had been vacant and used for stadium parking. LANta intends to use the vacant land for expansion of their existing facility near the stadium, which allows for the stadium to remain open.[10][11]
Muhlenberg Mules
In February 2024, it was announced that Muhlenberg College had reached an agreement with the City of Allentown to lease and renovate Bicentennial Park for their baseball games. The Mules had been playing at the Lehigh County Sports Fields complex in West Allentown since 1997.
The renovated stadium was expected to be ready for the start of the college's 2025 baseball season.[12] Ultimately, it opened in October at a ceremony that honored the Muhlenberg 1980 championship team.[13]
↑ "ECTB - Elite Championship Tournament Baseball - tournaments and showcases for youth baseball". Archived from the original on 2010-06-17. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
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