Warren Ballpark

Warren Ballpark
Historic Warren Ballpark built in 1909
Location Bisbee, Arizona
Coordinates 31°24′38″N 109°52′47″W / 31.41056°N 109.87972°W / 31.41056; -109.87972
Construction
Built 1909
Renovated 1930
Construction cost $3,600 [1]
General contractor The Warren Company
Tenants
Bisbee-Douglas Copper Kings (AML), Killer Termites 2015 - current (AML) (1947–1958, 2003)

Warren Ballpark is a baseball stadium located in Bisbee, Arizona. The ballpark was recently home to the Tucson Saguaros of the Pecos League and the Bisbee-Douglas Copper Kings of the independent Arizona–Mexico League The Stadium was built in 1909 by the Calumet and Arizona Mining Company (which later merged with Phelps Dodge) as a recreation for the miners and their families, pre-dating the construction of Chicago's Wrigley Field by nearly five years.[2] It is currently the home of Bisbee Killer Termites and Bisbee High School Pumas baseball and football teams.

The ballpark spans approximately forty acres, and is surrounded by an 8-foot (2.4 m) tall wooden security fence. It is divided into two sections: a baseball field on the East side, and a football stadium on the West. The baseball field features a shaded cast-in-place concrete grandstand situated at the Northeast corner. This canopy-covered structure, built in 1909, is still in its original condition, and is listed as a state historic building. Despite ongoing maintenance by the City of Bisbee and the Bisbee Unified School districts, it will most likely need structural renovation at some point in the future. Underneath the grandstand are housed the concrete dugouts, locker rooms, showers and manager's offices. The football field is oriented North to South and consists of a gridiron with modern steel bleachers along both sides of its length. These bleachers have at times in the past been pushed back to expand the baseball outfield.

Warren Ballpark holds a place in American labor history as the location where 1,300 striking, kidnapped miners were held during the Bisbee Deportation in 1917.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Luanne Mattson (9 March 2009) Baseball history in Bisbee, Arizona, Cochise County Tourism Council
  2. ↑ Lauren Proper (June 2009). "The Old Ballpark". Arizona Highways. Arizona Department of Transportation. Wrigley Field is old. And Fenway Park is older. The oldest baseball stadium still in use, however, is in the small town of Bisbee, Arizona.
  3. ↑ Byrkit, James. "The Bisbee Deportation." In American Labor in the Southwest. James C. Foster, ed. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1982. ISBN 0-8165-0741-4
  • Mark Moran of KJZZ (22 April 2003), Aging Arizona Ballpark Gets Facelift, All Things Considered, NPR, retrieved 2010-07-24
  • Matt Hickman (20 March 2010). "For the love of the game: Friends of Warren Ballpark plan vintage baseball tournament". Sierra Vista Herald. Retrieved 2010-07-24.
  • Shar Porier (11 May 2010). "Board wants ballpark on historic registry". Sierra Vista Herald. Retrieved 2010-07-24.
  • Leo W. Banks (2 July 2009). "Bisbee's Warren Ballpark turns 100 and stakes a claim as the nation's oldest". Tucson Weekly. Retrieved 2010-07-24.
  • Patrick Finley (10 April 2010). "Bisbee's 'time machine' could use some repairs". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved 2010-07-24.
  • Gabrielle Giffords, RECOGNIZING BISBEE'S WARREN PARK -- (Extensions of Remarks – July 16, 2009), Congressional Record, 111th Congress (2009–2010)
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