Four Winds Field at Coveleski Stadium

Four Winds Field at Coveleski Stadium is a baseball stadium in South Bend, Indiana, home to the South Bend Cubs, a minor league baseball team which plays in the 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.

Four Winds Field
at Coveleski Stadium
The Cove
Location501 West South Street
South Bend, Indiana 46601
Coordinates41°40′13.42″N 86°15′19.72″W
OwnerCity of South Bend
OperatorSouth Bend Parks & Recreation Department
CapacityBaseball: 5,000
Field sizeLeft field – 336 ft
Left Center Field - 360 ft
Center Field – 405 ft
Right Center Field - 360 ft
Right field – 336 ft
SurfaceNatural Turf
Construction
Broke groundAugust 1986[1]
OpenedJuly 2, 1987
Construction cost$11 million
($28.3 million in 2022 dollars[2])
ArchitectHOK Sport (original)
Jones Petrie Rafinski (2010-2013 Renovations)
Tenants
South Bend Cubs (MWL/High-A Central) (1988–present)
Notre Dame Fighting Irish baseball (1988–1993)

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
Coveleski Regional Stadium, pictured before renovation and name change to Four Winds Field at Coveleski Stadium. At this time, it was home to the South Bend Silverhawks, Single A team for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Coveleski Regional Stadium, pictured before renovation and name change to Four Winds Field at Coveleski Stadium.

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 Cubs, a High-A minor league baseball team affiliated with the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs, for many years known as the "'Silver Hawks"', which play in the Midwest League, were originally 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 and to the Cubs for the 2015 season.

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), original 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 home run out of the brand new park. Norm Bogunia, a 1985 graduate of South Bend's Washington High School and former baseball player there, was the first to hit a home run. He was joined by five other people who also hit home runs that day. LaSalle High School baseball coach Scott Sill ran the pitching machine. Two days later, on July 6, 1987, Joel Reinebold hit the first home run at the stadium during a regular game. A plaque hangs in the stadium with all the names of those who hit home runs.

Walkway leading to Four Winds Field at Coveleski Stadium, pictured in July 2015. There is an inflatable display of the South Bend Cubs mascot, Stu, holding a sign advertising a game to be played that day.
Walkway leading to The Cove, July 2015.

Redevelopment

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.[3] 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.[4]

In March 2017, construction began of a $22 million apartment complex, The Ivy at Berlin Place. The four four-story buildings will house 121 one and two-bedroom apartments overlooking the ballpark. Construction is expected to be completed by opening day of 2018.[5]

Naming rights

On September 5, 2013, it was announced that the stadium would be renamed Four Winds Field at Coveleski Stadium as a result of a new partnership with Four Winds Casinos.[6]

Ballpark synagogue
Ballpark Synagogue

The 1901 synagogue building of the Sons of Israel Synagogue is now used as the South Bend Cubs' gift shop. During the off-season, it is available to be used for weddings, bar mitzvahs, and other events. It also hosts a yearly town ball in July.[7][8]

The restoration and imaginative reuse of a historic house of worship is regarded as part of Berlin's creative approach to enhancing fan experience, an approach that has included upgrading every part of the experience of visiting the ballpark, from food, to seating, to the ease of using the parking lot.[9]

References
  1. Johnson, Arthur T. (1993). Minor League Baseball and Local Economic Development. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-01865-6.
  2. 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved May 28, 2023.
  3. Hildreth, Christina; Loo, Jamie (June 2, 2006). "Gates Auto to Vacate Downtown Space". South Bend Tribune. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  4. Loo, Jamie (October 20, 2007). "Commission OKs Contract for Coveleski Master Plan". South Bend Tribune. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  5. Arnold, Jess (March 22, 2017). "Construction has commenced on Four Winds Field apartment complex". WBND-LD. Retrieved March 23, 2017.
  6. Lesar, Al (September 6, 2013). "Four Winds, Silver Hawks Strike 10-Year Deal". South Bend Tribune. Retrieved September 21, 2013.
  7. Eig, Jonathan (May 14, 2014). "America's Only Ballpark Synagogue". The New Yorker. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
  8. Grossman, Ron (January 25, 2004). "Jewish communities fade in small towns". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  9. Rein, Irving; Shields, Ben; Grossman, Adam (2014). The Sports Strategist: Developing Leaders for a High-Performance Industry. Oxford University Press. p. 2. ISBN 9780199343836.
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