Riverfront Stadium (Wichita)
Riverfront Stadium is a baseball park in downtown Wichita, Kansas, United States. It serves as the home ballpark of the Wichita Wind Surge of the Double-A Texas League. The team relocated from the New Orleans suburb of Metairie, Louisiana after the 2019 season.[4]
  Riverfront Stadium Location within Kansas | |
| Location | Sycamore & Maple, Wichita, Kansas United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 37°40′53″N 97°20′45″W |
| Owner | City of Wichita |
| Operator | Wichita Wind Surge |
| Executive suites | 12[1] |
| Capacity |
|
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | February 13, 2019[2] |
| Opened | April 2020 (planned)[2] |
| Construction cost | $75 million[3] |
| Architect | DLR Group[3] Schaefer Johnson Cox Frey Architecture |
| Structural engineer | Professional Engineering Consultants[3] |
| Services engineer | Professional Engineering Consultants[3] |
| General contractor | JE Dunn/EBY[3] |
| Tenants | |
| Wichita Wind Surge (PCL/TL) 2020–present | |
History
Riverfront Stadium was built on the site of the former Lawrence–Dumont Stadium, a minor league ballpark in use from 1934 to 2018.[4] It has a total seating capacity of 10,025 people with 6,000 in fixed seating in addition to luxury suites and a grass berm in right field.[3][4][5] When not used for baseball, the city plans to use the facility for sports festivals, high school football, concerts, and an ice rink in winter.[4] The new ballpark will share hosting of the National Baseball Congress World Series with Eck Stadium at Wichita State.[6] The NBC World Series was played entirely at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium from 1935 until 2018.[7]
Ground was broken for the ballpark in February, 2019. A topping out ceremony, marking the placement of the last steel beam, was held on August 7, 2019.[8]
The stadium name was announced on March 6, 2020.[5]
The ballpark was built to host the Wichita Wind Surge, a Triple-A team of the Pacific Coast League. However, a combination of the cancellation of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Major League Baseball's realignment of the minor leagues for 2021, resulted in the team dropping down to the Double-A Texas League without having played a Triple-A game.[9]
References
- Barber, Hayden (March 7, 2020). "Riverfront Stadium is 95% complete. Here are specifics of what to expect opening day". The Wichita Eagle. Archived from the original on March 9, 2020. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
- Spedden, Zach (February 13, 2019). "New Wichita Ballpark Breaks Ground". Ballpark Digest. August Publications. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
- Lefler, Dion (December 11, 2018). "City Hall Picks Team to Design, Build Wichita's New Minor League Baseball Park". The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved January 28, 2019.
- Lefler, Dion (January 23, 2019). "First Look: What Wichita's New Ball Park Will Look like and What Will Be in It". The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved January 28, 2019.
- Barber, Hayden (March 6, 2020). "Wichita Wind Surge's new downtown stadium has a name". The Wichita Eagle.
- Spedden, Zach (July 29, 2019). "Future NBC World Series to be Split Between Ballparks". Ballpark Digest. August Publications. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
- Barber, Hayden (August 12, 2018). "History made at final NBC World Series in Lawrence-Dumont Stadium". The Wichita Eagle. Archived from the original on August 13, 2018. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
- Spedden, Zach (August 8, 2019). "Topping Out Ceremony Held for Wichita Ballpark". Ballpark Digest. August Publications. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
- Eldridge, Taylor (December 1, 2020). "Wichita's baseball team will drop to Double-A, source says; no MLB announcement yet". Wichita Eagle. Retrieved December 1, 2020.