Stanley Coveleski Regional Stadium

Stanley Coveleski Regional Stadium
Location	South Bend, Indiana
Broke ground	August 1986
Opened	July 2, 1987
Owner	City of South Bend
Operator	South Bend Parks & Recreation Department
Surface	FieldTurf
Construction cost	$11,000,000 ($22.5 million in 2012 dollars)
Architect	HOK Sport (now Populous)
Capacity	Baseball: 5,000
Field dimensions	Left field – 336 ft Center Field – 405 ft Right field – 336 ft
Tenants
South Bend Silver Hawks (Midwest League)

Stanley Coveleski Regional Stadium is a baseball stadium in South Bend, Indiana, home to the South Bend Silver Hawks, a minor league baseball team which plays in the Class-A Midwest League. The stadium opened in 1987, and its open concourse is considered the template for many later minor league ball parks built in the 1990s. It has a capacity of 5,000 spectators.

The park is named for Stan Coveleski, the hall of fame pitcher who once lived in South Bend. It is colloquially known as "The Cove".

Coveleski Stadium is located on South Street in downtown South Bend.

History

Stanley Coveleski Regional Stadium was built in 1987 for $11 million under the leadership of then-Mayor Roger O. Parent. The facility is owned by the City of South Bend and managed by the South Bend Parks & Recreation Department. Stanley Coveleski was a Hall of Fame pitcher who settled in South Bend after his successful baseball career came to an end in 1929. The stadium is now affectionately known as "The Cove". The 5,000-seat stadium is worth an estimated $35 million to $40 million today.

The stadium is home to the South Bend Silver Hawks, a Class A minor league baseball team affiliated with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Silver Hawks, which play in the Midwest League, were named in homage to the Studebaker Silver Hawk, once made in South Bend. Originally affiliated with the Chicago White Sox, the team switched to the Diamondbacks in 1997.

Called "the grandfather of the modern ballpark" by BallParkReviews.com, Coveleski Stadium provided a design template for a move in recent years to bring ballparks back into City downtowns. HOK Sport Inc. (now Populous), architect of Coveleski Stadium, also designed Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore and Cleveland's Progressive Field.

On July 4, 1987, the stadium held a "Homerun Derby" to see who could "make history" by hitting the first homerun out of the brand new park. Norm Bogunia, a 1985 graduate of South Bend Washington High School and former baseball player there, was the first to homer. He was joined by five other people who also homered that day. Two days later, on July 6, 1987, Joel Reinebold hit the first homerun at the stadium during a regular game. A plaque hangs in the stadium with all the names of those who homered.

Future Development

In 2007, as Coveleski Regional Stadium celebrated its 20th anniversary, the City of South Bend began a redevelopment plan for the neighborhood surrounding the ballpark prompted, in part, by the relocation of the Gates automotive dealership to Erskine Commons on the city's south side. The City acquired nearly 15 contiguous acres of property surrounding the park as part of a strategy to encourage new mixed-use development near the stadium and enhance its connection with the core of downtown. The City's control of the land maximizes the opportunity for economic growth in line with a master-planned strategy, while minimizing the potential for inappropriate development.

External links

• Ball Park Reviews
• Silver Hawks official site
• Silver Hawks directions page
• Stanley Coveleski Regional Stadium Views – Ball Parks of the Minor Leagues