A decade ago, Go the Distance Baseball formed to preserve the Iowa farm site where the 1989 movie Field of Dreams was filmed. The farmhouse can be rented or toured, and the venue includes a souvenir shop, ballpark concessions, and a field where visitors can have a catch. It’s expected to attract about 300,000 visitors this year.
Recently, the venue’s new owners unveiled a plan to build a youth baseball and softball destination for players, fans, and tourists, while preserving the cornfield setting and working farm. With $80 million in private investment, the master plan will almost double the site’s size—adding almost 100 acres to the original 190-acre footprint of the former Lansing family farm and movie site. The project will include nine new ballfields, dormitories for teams, and a boutique hotel, all slated to be completed in phases by the end of 2023.
“While the substantial private investment will expand and enhance our facilities, we are deeply committed to preserving the romantic experience of the Field of Dreams, including the views, the baseball diamond, the farmhouse, and the cornfields. Those images will never change,” COO Dan Evans, a longtime executive for five MLB franchises, said in a statement.
Additional phases through 2025 will include a 100,000-square-foot fieldhouse, an outdoor concert amphitheater, an RV park, a large park inclusive for children and adults with disabilities, and jogging trails through the cornfields. When fully completed, the development will create about 170 new full-time-equivalent jobs. Area residents can have member access to the indoor fieldhouse and a training facility for year-round recreation.
“Preserving and enhancing one of Iowa’s top tourism destinations makes this project a win-win for the local and state economies,” Keith Rahe, president and CEO of Travel Dubuque, said in a statement.
Owner: Go the Distance Baseball, LLC
Owner’s representative: Leopardo Companies
Design architect and architect of record: RDG Planning & Design
MEP engineer: KCL Engineers
Structural engineer: Origin Design
Related Stories
| Jun 12, 2014
Austrian university develops 'inflatable' concrete dome method
Constructing a concrete dome is a costly process, but this may change soon. A team from the Vienna University of Technology has developed a method that allows concrete domes to form with the use of air and steel cables instead of expensive, timber supporting structures.
| Jun 11, 2014
Esri’s interactive guide to 2014 World Cup Stadiums
California-based Esri, a supplier of GIS software, created a nifty interactive map that gives viewers a satellite perspective of Brazil’s many new stadiums.
| Jun 4, 2014
Construction team named for Atlanta Braves ballpark
A joint venture between Barton Malow, Brasfield & Gorrie, Mortenson Construction, and New South Construction will build the Atlanta Braves ballpark, which is scheduled to open in early 2017. Check out the latest renderings of the plan.
| Jun 2, 2014
Parking structures group launches LEED-type program for parking garages
The Green Parking Council, an affiliate of the International Parking Institute, has launched the Green Garage Certification program, the parking industry equivalent of LEED certification.
| May 29, 2014
7 cost-effective ways to make U.S. infrastructure more resilient
Moving critical elements to higher ground and designing for longer lifespans are just some of the ways cities and governments can make infrastructure more resilient to natural disasters and climate change, writes Richard Cavallaro, President of Skanska USA Civil.
| May 22, 2014
Just two years after opening, $60 million high school stadium will close for repairs
The 18,000-seat Eagle Stadium in Allen, Texas, opened in 2012 to much fanfare. But cracks recently began to appear throughout the structure, causing to the school district to close the facility.
| May 20, 2014
Kinetic Architecture: New book explores innovations in active façades
The book, co-authored by Arup's Russell Fortmeyer, illustrates the various ways architects, consultants, and engineers approach energy and comfort by manipulating air, water, and light through the layers of passive and active building envelope systems.
| May 19, 2014
What can architects learn from nature’s 3.8 billion years of experience?
In a new report, HOK and Biomimicry 3.8 partnered to study how lessons from the temperate broadleaf forest biome, which houses many of the world’s largest population centers, can inform the design of the built environment.
| May 16, 2014
Toyo Ito leads petition to scrap Zaha Hadid's 2020 Olympic Stadium project
Ito and other Japanese architects cite excessive costs, massive size, and the project's potentially negative impact on surrounding public spaces as reasons for nixing Hadid's plan.
| May 13, 2014
First look: Nadel's $1.5 billion Dalian, China, Sports Center
In addition to five major sports venues, the Dalian Sports Center includes a 30-story, 440-room, 5-star Kempinski full-service hotel and conference center and a 40,500-square-meter athletes’ training facility and office building.
