 | |
| Former names | Hamilton Bowl |
|---|---|
| Address | 1900 Walnut Avenue Long Beach, California |
| Coordinates | 33°47′32″N118°10′19″W / 33.7921°N 118.1719°W |
| Acreage | 19 acres |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 1936 |
| Built | 1950 |
| Years active | from 1950 |
| Website | |
| https://www.longbeach.gov/Park/Park-and-Facilities/Directory/Chittick-Field/ | |
Chittick Field is a sports complex in Long Beach, California. Originally constructed (and still used) as a stormwater detention basin named Hamilton Bowl (after Hamilton Junior High School, which was located nearby [1] ), it is also known under multiple other names: Dee Andrews Sports Complex, "The Hole", "El Hoyo", and as a result of its deterioration in the 2000s, "The Dust Bowl". [2] The complex includes a football field, an all-weather running track, and three lighted soccer fields. [1]
Located along Walnut Avenue, to the north of Pacific Coast Highway, [3] the basin was built in 1936 [2] to capture stormwater runoff from the Signal Hill area, as well as oil from an occasional oil gusher from one of the oil wells that dotted the neighborhood at the time. [3] The basin still slows the peak flow of water downstream to the Los Angeles River during major storms; restoration of submerged playing fields after such occurrences takes about 90 days. [2] The bowl overflowed during the 1939 California tropical storm. [4]
The baseball diamonds were originally built in the detention basin in 1950, with major expansions that included a soccer field and parking in the 1960s and the 1970s. Hamilton Bowl was renamed in 1983 in honor of Brian Chittick, a creator of the Kid Baseball Association, [2] and in 2021 was again renamed to Dee Andrews Sports Complex at Chittick Field after a former city council member. [2]
