Doubleday renovations on track for June finish
Doubleday Field might be blocks away from the Baseball Hall of Fame but the two stand side-by-side as Cooperstown’s marquis attractions.
The iconic field has seen its better days, and Village Mayor Ellen Tillapaugh continues to move forward with renovations she says will return the site to all its former glory.
“Doubleday Field will have a lot more plusses for Village residents, tourists, and teams that rent the field,” she said in a discussion with The Freeman’s Journal / Hometown Oneonta. “This is a funding stream for Cooperstown. That’s only one reason to keep it up.”
A 2017 planning document listed a variety of problems demanding attention: a need for on-site locker facilities, concession stands, and accessible, modern bathrooms; fix a drainage system so heavily blocked it causes otherwise avoidable rain-outs; address Willow Brook running directly beneath the first-base bleachers; fix structurally-unsound third-base bleachers; create a safer pedestrian approach to the Field through an active and busy parking lot; build seating compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Despite pandemic delays, crews completed the first phases of renovation in 2020 -- with a renovated parking lot featuring improved pedestrian access, the demolition of the third-base bleachers, renovation of the historic 1939 grandstand, and, among other projects, covering Willow Brook to protect it from litter tossed from the first-base bleachers. Still on the agenda: finishing the third-base building that will house locker rooms.
The venue has remained open for rental throughout the major renovation project, except for the summer of 2020 when COVID restrictions shut down team sports activities.
