Former names | Meinen Field (1970–1992) Vonachen Stadium (1992–2002) |
---|---|
Location | 1523 W. Nebraska Ave., Peoria, Illinois |
Coordinates | 40°42′35″N89°37′6″W / 40.70972°N 89.61833°W |
Public transit | CityLink |
Owner | Bradley University |
Operator | Bradley University |
Capacity | 3,800 |
Surface | Grass |
Construction | |
Broke ground | 1968 |
Opened | 1970 |
Renovated | 1982, 1992, 2002 |
Tenants | |
Bradley Braves (NCAA) Baseball (1970–2001) Soccer (2003–present) Peoria Suns/Chiefs (MWL) (1983–2001) Peoria City (USL2) (2022–) |
Shea Stadium is a former baseball stadium located in Peoria, Illinois, less than a mile north of Bradley University and just to the west of the USDA National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research. Converted to a soccer-specific facility in 2003, it is owned and operated by Bradley University and is the home of the Bradley Braves men's and women's soccer teams. [1]
The property broke ground around 1968 [2] and opened as a baseball facility in 1970 for Bradley University Braves baseball. Its name was chosen to honor Bradley athletic director and baseball coach John "Dutch" Meinen. [3] It served as the home field for Bradley baseball for 32 years, from 1970 to 2001, [4] and the home field for the Peoria Chiefs from their first game on April 19, 1983 to 2001.
The baseball field was renovated twice: once in 1982, [3] and once in 1992 [2] when it was given a $2.2 million overhaul. [5] The facility was renamed Pete Vonachen Stadium at Meinen Field on June 6, 1992, in honor of the Chiefs' owner. [2]
After the teams moved to O'Brien Field for the 2002 season, the university began to look for other uses for Meinen Field, eventually settling on its current setup as a soccer-only facility. It was substantially reconfigured, with a few remnants of its baseball days remaining: the old press box; most of the first-base seating area, which now forms the main seating area for the soccer field; some of the light standards; and the concession stands and some other outbuildings on the property.
On October 25, 2002, Meinen Field was renamed Shea Stadium after Tim Shea, a Bradley University alumnus. The first Bradley soccer game at the newly renovated Shea Stadium was in August 2003. [4]
On June 10, 2008, Shea Stadium played host to two Major League Soccer teams in a U.S. Open Cup qualifier when the Chicago Fire played against the Columbus Crew in front 3,829 people, the largest crowd ever to see a soccer game at Shea Stadium. [6]
On January 23, 2020, the USL League Two announced that Peoria City would start play in the 2020 season in the Hartland Division of the Central conference, [7] but the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Peoria City will, after two years of delay, will began play in the Deep North Division of the Central conference. Their first game was on May 14 at Shea against Minneapolis SC Which ended in a 2-2 draw.
Shea Stadium, formally known as William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens, New York City. Opened in 1964, it was home to the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1964 to 2008, as well as the New York Jets of the American Football League (AFL) and the National Football League (NFL) from 1964 to 1983.
Choctaw Stadium, formerly Globe Life Park, is an American multi-purpose stadium in Arlington, Texas, United States. The venue opened in April 1994 as a baseball stadium with the name The Ballpark in Arlington, serving as the home for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball from 1994 through 2019. It replaced the nearby Arlington Stadium, and was succeeded by Globe Life Field.
Bradley University is a private university in Peoria, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1897, Bradley University enrolls 5,400 students who are pursuing degrees in more than 100 undergraduate programs and more than 30 graduate programs in five colleges. The university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and 22 specialized and professional accreditors.
The Peoria Chiefs are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. The team was established in 1983 as the Peoria Suns. They are located in Peoria, Illinois, and are named for the Peoria Indian tribe for which the city was named. In 2005, the team replaced the indigenous imagery associated with the Chiefs name and moved to a logo of a dalmatian depicted as a fire chief. The Chiefs play their home games at Dozer Park, which opened in 2002. They previously played at Vonachen Stadium near Bradley University from 1983 through 2001. The Chiefs have made the playoffs a total of 13 times, through eight wild-card berths, three first-half titles, and two second-half titles.
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A soccer-specific stadium, mainly in the United States and Canada, is a sports stadium either purpose-built or fundamentally redesigned for soccer and whose primary function is to host soccer matches, as opposed to a multi-purpose stadium which is for a variety of sports. A soccer-specific stadium may host other sporting events and concerts, but the design and purpose of a soccer-specific stadium is primarily for soccer. Some facilities have a permanent stage at one end of the stadium used for staging concerts.
The Diamond is a baseball stadium located in Richmond, Virginia, USA, on Arthur Ashe Boulevard. It is the home of Richmond Flying Squirrels of the Eastern League and the Virginia Commonwealth University baseball team. From 1985 to 2008, it was the home of the Richmond Braves, the Triple-A minor league baseball affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. The Diamond seats 12,134 people for baseball; however, for Flying Squirrels games, advertising banners cover up the top rows of the upper deck, reducing seating capacity to 9,560.
Al Lang Stadium is a 7,500-seat sports stadium along the waterfront of downtown St. Petersburg, Florida, United States which was used almost exclusively as a baseball park for over 60 years. Since 2011, it has been the home pitch of the Tampa Bay Rowdies of the USL Championship soccer league.
Dozer Park, originally O'Brien Field and formerly Chiefs Stadium, is a baseball field located in downtown Peoria, Illinois. It is the home of the Peoria Chiefs, the Midwest League affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals; the Chiefs previously played at Meinen Field. The college baseball team of Bradley University also uses the field. It opened on May 24, 2002.
Cashman Field is a stadium in Downtown Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. It is primarily used for soccer as the home field of Las Vegas Lights FC of the USL Championship. Originally built as a baseball stadium, it was the home of the Triple-A Las Vegas Stars/51s Minor League Baseball from 1983 to 2018, and home to the Vegas Vipers of the XFL in 2023. The stadium is connected to Cashman Center, an exhibit hall and theater operated by the City of Las Vegas. The complex, built on the site of a former stadium of the same name, is named for James "Big Jim" Cashman and his family, who have been Las Vegas entrepreneurs for several generations.
Tad Gormley Stadium is a 26,500 seat multi-purpose outdoor stadium, located in City Park, in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Movable seating is a feature of some facilities like stadiums, often known as convertible stadiums, or moduable stadiums. It allows for the movement of parts of the grandstand to allow for a change of the playing surface shape. This allows games that use various shaped playing surfaces such as an oval field, for cricket and/or Australian rules football; or a rectangular field, for football (soccer), rugby league, rugby union, American football, and/or Canadian football; or a diamond field, for baseball; to be played in the same stadium. This is particularly useful in Australia and the United States, where various professional sports with varying field configurations are popular spectator pastimes. The process of conversion from one form to another is time consuming, depending on the stadium it can take from 8 to 80 hours. Many stadiums were built in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s to host both baseball and American football.
A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used for multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a design philosophy that stresses multifunctionality over speciality. It is used most commonly in Canada and the United States, where the two most popular outdoor team sports—Canadian football or American football and baseball—require radically different facilities. Football uses a rectangular field, while baseball is played on a diamond with a large outfield. Since Canadian football fields are larger than American ones, the design specifications for Canadian facilities are somewhat less demanding. The particular design to accommodate both is usually an oval, although some later designs use an octorad. While building stadiums in this way means that sports teams and governments can share costs, it also presents some challenges.
The Bradley Braves are the intercollegiate athletics teams of Bradley University, located in Peoria, Illinois, United States. The Braves' athletic program is a member of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) and competes at the NCAA Division I level. The Bradley mascot is Kaboom! the Gargoyle, and the school colors are red and white.
The Bradley Braves baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate athletic team of the Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, United States. The team competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I and are members of the Missouri Valley Conference. The Braves have played in seven NCAA Tournaments, going in 1950, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1962, 1968 and 2015.
Harold Albert "Pete" Vonachen, Jr. was an American businessman and Minor league baseball team owner. Born in Peoria, Illinois, he was often dubbed "Peoria's Mr. Baseball, although this was usually only done for press consumption.
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