Professional baseball in Charleston came to a halt in 1942 due to manpower shortages caused by World War II. In 1944, the city’s previous ballpark, Kanawha Park, was destroyed by fire. Walter B. “Watt” Powell, a longtime supporter of minor league baseball in Charleston, led the effort to construct a new stadium on the same site. He also helped secure a new team for the city — the Charleston Senators, a Class A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. The new ballpark was built at a cost of approximately $250,000. Powell died in December 1948, just months before the opening of the new stadium that would bear his name.[5]
While professional baseball was absent from Charleston between 1964 and 1971, Watt Powell Park was reconfigured to host football games, and many local high schools used the field — a practice that continued for several years thereafter. In the summer of 1965, the city council voted to expand Watt Powell Park’s dimensions to accommodate football games.[7]
Professional baseball returned to Charleston in 1971, when local businessman Bob Levine purchased the Columbus Jets of the Class AAA International League and relocated the franchise from Columbus, Ohio, to the city. The team, renamed the Charleston Charlies, spent thirteen seasons in the International League and achieved its greatest success in 1977, capturing the league championship.[8]
Baseball returned again in 1987 when Illinois native Dennis Bastien purchased a Class A South Atlantic League franchise. Bastien named the team the Charleston Wheelers in honor of the sternwheelers that once navigated the Kanawha River. In 1990, the Wheelers captured the South Atlantic League championship. The team was renamed the Charleston Alley Cats in 1995.[9]
Following its closure, the ballpark was replaced by GoMart Ballpark (originally named Appalachian Power Park), which opened in downtown Charleston in April 2005 as the new home of the city’s minor league franchise.[10] The stadium property was later sold to the University of Charleston, which subsequently sold two-thirds of the site to Charleston Area Medical Center (CAMC), whose main hospital complex is located nearby. Demolition of the ballpark began in late 2005, and in 2015, a new CAMC Cancer Center opened on the site.
The WVSSAC state high school baseball tournament was held at Watt Powell Park until it closed in 2004.[11]
Bronze plaque marking the location of home plate on the former site of Watt Powell Park, now occupied by the CAMC Cancer Center.
Tenants
During its operation, Watt Powell Park was home to several Charleston minor league franchises:
Watt Powell Park had a seating capacity of 4,474 and was known for its scenic view of the nearby hillsides. The park was also noted for the CSX railroad line running along the south wall of the stadium; some fans were known to watch games from there rather than pay for admission. The Park was bounded by MacCorkle Avenue on the north (front) side, 35th Street on the east, and South Park Road on the west. On the south side of the park, a ridge of hills formed a natural boundary.
The stadium earned a reputation as a pitchers' park due to the lack of power hitting over its lifespan. Part of this can be attributed to its dimensions; the field was 340 feet from home plate to the wall in left field, 330 feet in right, and a daunting 420 feet in deep center field. The outfield walls were also 12 feet high the whole distance around, higher than walls seen elsewhere in baseball. The center field wall included a 90-degree, inward facing angle, reminiscent of the old Griffith Stadium in Washington, DC.
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City of Charleston 
