Veterans Memorial Stadium (Cedar Rapids)

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Veterans Memorial Stadium is a minor league baseball stadium in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It is the home field of the Cedar Rapids Kernels of the Midwest League. It is often called New Veterans Memorial Stadium to distinguish it from the original Veterans Memorial Stadium, which existed from 1949 to 2001.

Overview

Veterans Memorial Stadium is located southwest of downtown Cedar Rapids on Rockford Road. The Cedar Rapids Ice Arena and Kingston Stadium, the local high school football field, are both adjacent to Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Veterans Memorial Stadium has a total seating capacity of about 5,300. It has 12 luxury suites and several sections that are reserved for group outings, including a mezzanine terrace in the upper deck behind first base, a pavilion in left field, and a pre-game picnic area.

In addition to Kernels games, Veterans Memorial Stadium hosted the Midwest League All-Star Game in 2004. On July 9, 2005, the stadium hosted its first concert, featuring Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson. In 2006 the American Legion World Series will be held there. It is also occasionally used for high school and college baseball games.

The city of Cedar Rapids owns Veterans Memorial Stadium, which was named to honor veterans of all wars, and the city's Veterans Memorial Commission operates and maintains the stadium. The Linn County All Veterans Memorial is located next to the stadium.

History

The original Veterans Memorial Stadium was built in 1949 for the Cedar Rapids Rockets of the Central Association. It later became home to the Cedar Rapids Indians (1950-1952), the Cedar Rapids Raiders (1953-1957), and the Cedar Rapids Braves (1958-1961) of the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League. From 1962 until its demolition, Cedar Rapids' Midwest League teams — which went through several name changes before becoming the Kernels in 1993 — played their home games there.

Playing field at the new Veterans Memorial Stadium, during a June 4, 2006, game against the Burlington Bees

During the 1990s, Veterans Memorial Stadium failed to meet many of Major League Baseball's new standards for minor league parks as newer facilities were opening in other Midwest League cities. On August 15, 2000, Cedar Rapids voters approved a referendum that helped provide some of the $16 million needed to build a new ballpark adjacent to the old one. (Other funds came from the state of Iowa, the Kernels ballclub, and private donations.) The last game at the old Veterans Memorial Stadium was played on August 28, 2001, with the Kernels defeating the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 4-1. The stadium was demolished shortly afterwards and the site now serves as a parking lot for the new stadium.

The new Veterans Memorial Stadium was dedicated on April 7, 2002, but that day's scheduled game against the Quad City River Bandits (now the Swing of the Quad Cities) was rained out. The first games were not played until April 9, when the Kernels swept a doubleheader from the River Bandits, 5-4 and 3-0.

External links

Current ballparks in the Midwest League
Eastern Division		Western Division
C.O. Brown Stadium \|Coveleski Stadium \| Fifth Third Ballpark \| Fifth Third Field \| Memorial Stadium \| Oldsmobile Park		Alliant Energy Field \| Community Field \| Elfstrom Stadium \| Fox Cities Stadium \| O'Brien Field \| John O'Donnell Stadium \| Harry C. Pohlman Field \| Veterans Memorial Stadium

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