A flood that changed the landscape across Kokomo in April 2013 forced the city to rethink how it would address flood mitigation in its flood-prone neighborhoods.
The flood also forced members of the blue ribbon committee appointed by Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight just one month earlier to consider a new location that ultimately led to the selection of a downtown baseball facility.
Plans for the $11.5 million project were announced Monday. The 16-member committee weighed the pros and cons of building a new stadium before selecting the downtown location from five prospective options in the eastern, western and southern parts of the city.
Ultimately, the downtown location north of Vaile Avenue, between Union Street and Apperson Way, will allow the city to address both of those issues with one of its largest new developments in the downtown’s history.
“It made more sense to be able to work on the flood plan and bring this type of facility downtown,” said committee member John Sarber, director of facilities for IU Kokomo. “The engineers did a really good job of proving to us that it would help with the downtown flooding and the flow of the creek going out west of town. That was one of the big questions we had that they answered.”
Goodnight said being able to address two pressing issues at the same time was a huge factor in choosing the downtown location.
“Little did we know that the need for comprehensive flood mitigation and the need to re-establish a first class baseball facility would eventually merge into one of the largest new developments in downtown’s history,” he said. “Kokomo is paying off a $6 million debt for the new parking garage five years early, repurposing a flood prone area, building a baseball stadium that will be enjoyed by generations and beginning to alleviate flooding concerns in central Kokomo – all while still keeping our city’s cash balances above 2011 levels.”
City Engineer Carey Stranahan said the $2.5 million mitigation portion of the project will consist of filling in and raising the level of terrain to that of the surrounding property, which will be set above the 100-year flood elevation level.
“The elevation of the surrounding property to the field will be set above the 100-year flood elevation to protect the field,” he said. “That fill is going to come from the flood plain to offset the filling in another location. We’re also doing some outside mitigation projects that will add capacity to the creek.”
In addition to finding a location that will address flooding in the downtown, committee members spoke about the need to build a new stadium with deeper dimensions that will allow it to attract tournaments and teams from all different levels of baseball.
While CFD Financial Investments Stadium in Highland Park provided adequate facilities for Babe Ruth and high school level baseball, its short right field fence, lack of restroom and locker room facilities and limited concessions made building another stadium a necessity.
“We had some tournaments that have asked to come here, but we just didn’t have the facility for it,” committee member Dean Hockney said. “Now that we have the facility for it, I can see this being used from April until the end of summer. Having two championship level fields in the city is going to be phenomenal. There’s no reason we can’t go after some of these big events.”
Plans call for 2,350 stadium seats with an additional 1,200 to 1,500 spots for lawn seating and a field with a synthetic playing surface. Individual flip-down seats will be located behind home plate leading up to the press area, while bench seats with a back rest will lead up behind each of the dugouts.
Committee members visited facilities like the new Alexander Field at Purdue Univesity and Loeb Stadium in Lafayette to get a better idea of what the facility should look like before the architecture and engineering services were ultimately provided by Structurepoint and Context.
“It’s going to be a great fit for all of the things that are going on downtown,” committee member and former Kokomo and Major League Baseball player Pat Underwood said. “When you look at some of the bigger cities like Fort Wayne and South Bend, they’re doing the same things. We’re going to get a lot more attraction to the downtown area.”
The facility will be the first new baseball stadium in Kokomo since Highland Park Stadium was built in 1955. That stadium was once home field for the Kokomo Dodgers, who were a Minor League affiliate of the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Stadium construction is expected to begin soon and open in April 2015, in time for next year’s high school baseball season. Four Howard County high schools have committed to playing baseball in the new stadium.