Bicentennial Park (Allentown)

Last updated
Bicentennial Park
Bicentennial Park (Allentown)
Full nameECTB Stadium at Earl F. Hunsicker Bicentennial Park
Former namesFairview Field (1939-1976)
Location Lehigh and South Howard Streets, Allentown, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Coordinates 40°35′15″N75°28′32″W / 40.587506°N 75.475522°W / 40.587506; -75.475522
Owner City of Allentown
Capacity 4,600
SurfaceGrass and Clay
Construction
Opened1939
Renovated1976
General contractorAlvin Butz's Construction Company
Tenants
Allentown Dukes (1939)
Allentown Fleetwings (1940, 1942-1943)
Allentown Wings (1941)
Allentown Cardinals (1944-1947)
Allentown Ambassadors (1997-2003)
Philadelphia Force (2006-2009)
Allentown Railers (2012-present)

Bicentennial Park is a baseball and softball stadium in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The park, originally named after the bicentennial year in which it was renovated, was officially renamed Earl F. Hunsicker Bicentennial Park after Hunsicker's death in 1987; [1] [2] it was renamed ECTB Stadium at Earl F. Hunsicker Bicentennial Park in 2005. ECTB is an acronym for the Elite Championship Tournament Baseball, a youth baseball organization. [3]

Contents

The stadium and land around it are owned by the City of Allentown and currently leased to the ECTB, which in turn sublets the stadium to numerous community organizations which host events there throughout the year. The ballpark currently seats 4,600.

History

20th century

The ballpark opened in 1939 as Fairview Field, home to the Allentown Dukes, a Boston Braves Minor League farm team. The Dukes, a founding member of the Interstate League, won both the regular-season pennant and defeated the Sunbury Senators in the playoffs. [4] The 1939 Dukes featured future Major League Baseball players Joe Antolick, George Hennessey, and Tony Parisse. [5]

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. [6] [7]

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. [8]

After the Eastern League's Allentown Red Sox played their final season in 1960, the city was without pro ball until the Allentown Ambassadors of the independent Northeast League arrived in 1997.

21st century

Philadelphia Force

Dwindling attendance, hurt by increasingly poor on-field performance, led owner Peter Karoly to fold the Allentown Red Sox shortly before the 2004 season; the franchise wound up as a travel team for a year as the Northeast League Aces prior to becoming the Worcester Tornadoes in 2005. Over its six seasons, 21 Major League Baseball players played for or managed the Ambassadors, including Ed Ott, Luis Andujar, Kim Batiste, Scott Bullett, Brian Drahman, Angelo Encarnacion, Mike Figga, Jason McDonald, Darryl Motley, and Brad Pennington.

From 2006 through 2009, Bicentennial Park returned to a softball configuration, hosting the Philadelphia Force of National Pro Fastpitch professional women's softball league.

Ownership

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 planeed 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]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Journey Bank Ballpark at Historic Bowman Field</span> Baseball park in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, USA, home to the Williamsport Crosscutters

Journey Bank Ballpark at Historic Bowman Field is a minor league baseball stadium in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is home to the Williamsport Crosscutters, a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. The official seating capacity is 2,366. Opened in 1926, Bowman Field is the second-oldest ballpark in minor league baseball. Bowman Field is also the home field for the Wildcats of the Pennsylvania College of Technology for more than a decade. A new field project for the Penn College Wildcats was planned to be completed by 2022, but has since been delayed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harrisburg Senators</span> Minor league baseball team

The Harrisburg Senators are a Minor League Baseball team of the Eastern League, and the Double-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, who play their home games at FNB Field on City Island, which opened in 1987 and has a seating capacity of 6,187.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Durham Athletic Park</span> Baseball stadium in North Carolina, US

Durham Athletic Park, nicknamed "The DAP", is a former minor league baseball stadium in Durham, North Carolina. The stadium was home to the Durham Bulls from 1926 through 1994, and is currently home to the North Carolina Central Eagles and the Durham School of the Arts Bulldogs. The DAP sits north of the downtown area of Durham, on the block bounded by Washington, Corporation, Foster and Geer Streets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hoover Metropolitan Stadium</span> Former minor league baseball park

Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, also known as The Hoover Met, is a baseball stadium located in Hoover, Alabama, United States, a suburb of Birmingham. It was home of the Birmingham Barons of the Southern League from 1988 to 2012, replacing historic Rickwood Field in Birmingham. The stadium also serves as the home for the SEC baseball tournament, as well as the primary home for Hoover High School football. It is located in the Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area near Interstate 459 at Exit 10 just off Alabama State Route 150. The stadium is located three miles from the Riverchase Galleria, one of the south's largest shopping centers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LECOM Park</span> Baseball field in Bradenton, Florida

LECOM Park is a baseball field located in Bradenton, Florida. It is the spring training home of the Pittsburgh Pirates and is named after a 15-year naming rights deal was signed with the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, which has its main campus in Erie, Pennsylvania, and also a campus in Bradenton. It was formerly known as McKechnie Field, named for Bradenton resident and Baseball Hall of Fame great Bill McKechnie, who led the Pirates in 1925 and the Cincinnati Reds in 1940 to World Series titles. He was also a coach with the Cleveland Indians in 1948.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avista Stadium</span>

Avista Stadium is a baseball park in the northwest United States, located in Spokane Valley, Washington. It is the home ballpark of the Spokane Indians, a minor league baseball team in the High-A Northwest League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coca-Cola Park</span> Baseball Park in Pennsylvania, United States

Coca-Cola Park is an 8,278-seat baseball park in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It is the home field for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the Triple-A level Minor League Baseball affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Baseball City Stadium was a stadium located in Davenport, Florida that was in use from 1988 to 2002. It was a portion of the Boardwalk and Baseball theme park. The two facilities adjoined at the intersection of Interstate 4 and Route 27, about 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Orlando. The facility had five practice fields in addition to the stadium. It was primarily used for baseball and was the spring training home of Kansas City Royals prior to the team moving to Surprise Stadium in 2003. The ballpark had a capacity of 8,000 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lehigh Valley IronPigs</span> Minor league baseball team

The Lehigh Valley IronPigs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. They are located in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and they are named in reference to pig iron, used in the manufacturing of steel, for which the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania is well known. The IronPigs play their home games at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wild Things Park</span> Baseball stadium in Pennsylvania

Wild Things Park is a 3,200-seat multi-purpose baseball stadium in North Franklin Township, a suburb of Washington, Pennsylvania. It hosted its first regular season baseball game on May 29, 2002, as the primary tenants of the facility, the Washington Wild Things, lost to the Canton Coyotes, 3-0. The ballpark also hosts the California Vulcans baseball team, representing Pennsylvania Western University California. It was the home of the Pennsylvania Rebellion of the National Pro Fastpitch, a women's professional softball league, until 2017 when the team folded. It also hosts Trinity High School's baseball team and the WPIAL Baseball Championships. It was briefly the home of the Pittsburgh Riverhounds soccer club during the 2005 and 2006 seasons. Wild Things Park is located near Interstate 70 and is notable for including a hot tub in the viewing stands. ProGrass Synthetic Turf was installed in the fall of 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allentown Cardinals</span> Minor league baseball team

The Allentown Cardinals were a minor league baseball team. Affiliated with the St. Louis Cardinals, they played in the Class B Interstate League between 1944 and 1952; then in the Class A Eastern League from 1954 to 1956.

The Allentown Red Sox (A-Sox) were a minor league baseball team, affiliated with the Boston Red Sox and based in Allentown, Pennsylvania, that played from 1958 through 1960 in the Eastern League. At that time, the Eastern League was officially Class A, but, prior to the minor-league classification realignment that took place in 1963, that level was almost equivalent to Double-A.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of baseball in Allentown, Pennsylvania</span>

The history of professional baseball in Allentown, Pennsylvania dates back 138 years, starting with the formation of the Allentown Dukes in 1884 and continuing through the present with its hosting of the Allentown-based Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the Triple-A Minor League affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball, who play at Coca-Cola Park on the city's East Side.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clearwater Athletic Field</span> Stadium in Clearwater, Florida

Clearwater Athletic Field was a stadium in Clearwater, Florida. It was first used by professional baseball teams for spring training in 1923 and was the Phillies' first spring training ballpark in Clearwater. The grandstand sat approximately 2,000 and bleachers increased capacity to close to 3,000. Home plate was located on Pennsylvania Avenue, which ran south to north along the third base line, near Seminole Street. Left field ran parallel to Palmetto Street, and right field ran parallel to Greenwood Ave. The grandstand was destroyed by fire in April 1956.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West End Park (Houston)</span> Former baseball park in Houston, Texas

West End Park was a baseball park in Houston from 1905 to the 1940s. It was the primary ballpark for the city when it was constructed, and the city's first venue for Negro Major League games. From 1909 through 1910 and again in 1915, it also served as the spring training facility of the St. Louis Browns as well as the 1914 New York Yankees of the American League and the 1906 through 1908 St. Louis Cardinals of the National League in Major League Baseball. After its use by its primary tenant, the Houston Buffaloes of the Texas League, the ballpark was sold to what is now known as the Houston Independent School District for its use until it was demolished.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clay Gould Ballpark</span> Sports venue in Arlington, Texas, US

Clay Gould Ballpark, the home field of the UT Arlington Mavericks, is located on the campus of The University of Texas at Arlington. The stadium has a seat capacity of 1,600. Clay Gould Ballpark is located at the intersection of West Park Row Drive and Fielder Road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breadon Field</span> Minor league baseball field in Pennsylvania

Breadon Field was a minor league ballpark in Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania, located on the east side of MacArthur Road, about 0.5 miles (0.80 km) north of the U.S. Route 22 interchange outside of Allentown, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamtramck Stadium</span> United States historic place

Hamtramck Stadium, also known as Roesink Stadium is one of only 12 remaining Negro league baseball stadiums. It is located at 3201 Dan Street, in Veterans Park, in Hamtramck, Michigan. The stadium was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012. The stadium is located near, and occasionally confused with, Keyworth Stadium. The stadium was rededicated on June 20, 2022, as part of the Juneteenth celebration. In 2020, the stadium's field was renamed Norman "Turkey" Stearnes Field, after Detroit Stars player Turkey Stearnes.

The Sunbury Indians were a minor league baseball team based in Sunbury, Pennsylvania. They began play in the Interstate League in 1939 as the Sunbury Senators and were renamed the Sunbury Indians in 1940. Despite the nicknames, they were unaffiliated with any major league baseball team. They played at Meredith Park. The team relocated to Hagerstown, Maryland, after the 1940 season as the Hagerstown Owls.

References

  1. "Earl F. Hunsicker: His Dream Fulfilled".
  2. "Ceremony Set Sunday for Renaming of Park Briefly".
  3. "ECTB - Elite Championship Tournament Baseball - tournaments and showcases for youth baseball". Archived from the original on 2010-06-17. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
  4. "1939 Interstate League".
  5. "1939 Allentown Dukes Statistics".
  6. ""Baseball has been down, but not out," Morning Call, March 30, 2008" . Retrieved 2008-03-30.
  7. "Baseball at Breadon Field 60 years ago was once place to be".
  8. "Earl F. Hunsicker; Led Drive to Build Bicentennial Park".
  9. "Out of LEFT FIELD **LANTA wants part of Bicentennial Park for garage expansion".
  10. "Allentown Council approves land swap at Bicentennial Park".
  11. "Allentown Council member laments sorry conditions at Bicentennial Park".