Groundbreaking on the new stadium was held on Friday, May 16.

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg University baseball program is getting a new home - at least it will be new to the current players. The Springfield City Commission recently awarded a $2.56 million contract to build a new municipal stadium on the site of the old stadium, which was demolished in March 2001 after serving the community for more than 70 years and playing host to Wittenberg baseball games between 1981 and 2000.

Groundbreaking on the new stadium, newly christened Carleton Davidson Stadium, took place Friday, May 16, 2003. District officials hope the stadium will be completed in time for Wittenberg's 2004 season, which opens in March. The stadium is a joint venture between Wittenberg, the National Trail Parks and Recreation District and the city of Springfield, and it is the first major project of the district's $17 million, five-year capital campaign. Future projects include an aquatics center and a downtown ice rink, which would become the home of Wittenberg's Ice Hockey Club team.

"This is great for Wittenberg," said Tiger baseball Head Coach Jay Lewis, a 1994 Wittenberg graduate who has guided the program since 1997. "A lot of baseball alumni and especially the current coaches and players have been pointing toward this for a long time. It's going to be a great stadium and a one-of-a-kind facility in our conference. "I'm thankful that the National Trail Parks and Recreation District officials made this project happen."

The stadium, located at 1425 Mitchell Blvd. in Springfield, will have a seating capacity of 1,061, with a minimum of 50 percent of the seats under cover. Among its finer features will be a full-service media center, locker room facilities, a concessions area, secured storage for equipment, a state-of-the-art scoreboard, a paved parking lot and high-quality field lighting.

The stadium is operated by the National Trail Parks and Recreation District and was built as a WPA project in the 1930s. It has served as a home to minor league professional baseball teams in past years and hosted numerous youth league, high school and collegiate baseball tournaments. It has already been mentioned as a possible future site of the North Coast Athletic Conference baseball tournament and the NCAA Division III Mid-East Regional, as well as a primary location for high school baseball tournament action.


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