Jackie Robinson Ballpark
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Jackie Robinson Ballpark | |
|---|---|
| U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
 |
|
| Location: | Daytona Beach, Florida  United States |
| Built/Founded: | 1915 (ball field) 1929 (grandstand) |
| Added to NRHP: | October 22, 1998 |
| NRHP Reference#: | 98001253 |
- Jackie Robinson Stadium redirects here. For the UCLA baseball stadium, see Jackie Robinson Stadium (UCLA baseball).
The Jackie Robinson Ballpark (also known as Jackie Robinson Stadium or City Island Ball Park) is a historic baseball field in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. It is located at 103 East Orange Avenue on City Island, in the Halifax River.
[edit] History
The stadium was built in 1914 and holds 4,200 people. It is the home of the Daytona Cubs and the Bethune-Cookman University Wildcats.The Daytona Cubs were founded in 1993. They have won two Florida State League championships, 1994 and 2004.
One of the reasons the stadium is named for Jackie Robinson is because Daytona Beach was the first Florida city to let Robinson play in during the 1946 season's Spring Training. The Triple-A Montreal Royals, which Robinson was playing for, was in-state to play an exhibition against their parent club, the Brooklyn Dodgers. Both Jacksonville and Sanford refused to let the game go on due to segregation laws. Daytona Beach was the first to permit the game to be played, and it was played on March 17, 1946. This led to his ultimately breaking the color line in 1947, the year he joined the Dodgers. The refusal by Jacksonville in particular, previously the Dodgers' spring training home, led the Dodgers to host Spring Training at the park in 1947, and built Dodgertown in Vero Beach for the 1948 season.
A statue of Robinson is now located on the north enterence to the ballpark. On October 22, 1998, the stadium was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. This property is part of the Daytona Beach Multiple Property Submission, a Multiple Property Submission to the National Register.
The stadium sustained heavy damage during Hurricane Donna in 1960. A $2-million historic renovation project was accelerated after Hurricane Floyd ripped off the metal roofs over the seating in 1999. In 2004, the ballpark again suffered moderate damage during Hurricane Charley, causing several home games to be moved to Melching Field at Conrad Park in nearby DeLand. They renovated the scoreboard in 2007.
[edit] References and external links
- Jackie Robinson Ballpark from the Daytona Cubs website
- Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs
- Jackie Robinson Ballpark Views - Ball Parks of the Minor Leagues
|
||||||||
 |
This Florida historic structure or location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 |
This article about a sports venue in Florida is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
