Dickey–Stephens Park facts for kids
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| Location | 400 West Broadway Street North Little Rock, AR 72114 |
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| Coordinates | 34°45′19″N 92°16′21″W / 34.755215°N 92.272582°W |
| Owner | City of North Little Rock |
| Operator | Arkansas Travelers Baseball, Inc. |
| Capacity | Baseball: 7,200 (5,800 fixed seats) |
| Field size | Left field – 332 feet (101 m) Left Center – 360 feet (110 m) Center Field – 400 feet (120 m) Right Center – 375 feet (114 m) Right field – 330 feet (100 m) |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | November 30, 2005 |
| Opened | April 12, 2007 |
| Construction cost | $40.4 million ($57 million in 2022 dollars ) |
| Architect | HKS, Inc. Taggart Foster Currence Gary Architects, Inc. Witsell Evans Rasco |
| Structural engineer | Jaster-Quintanilla & Associates |
| Services engineer | Smith Seckman Reid Inc. |
| General contractor | Hensel Phelps/East-Harding |
| Tenants | |
| Arkansas Travelers (TL/Double-A Central) (2007–present) | |
Dickey–Stephens Park is a cool baseball park located in North Little Rock, Arkansas. It's mostly used for baseball games. This park is the home field for the Arkansas Travelers team. They play in the Double-A Central league.
The stadium can hold up to 7,200 fans. About 5,800 people can sit in fixed seats. Another 1,500 can relax on grassy areas called "berms." Dickey–Stephens Park opened in 2007. It replaced an older stadium called Ray Winder Field. The park is named after four important local brothers. These include Baseball Hall of Fame member Bill Dickey. His brother George Dickey was also a baseball catcher. The park also honors businessmen Jackson T. Stephens and W. R. Stephens.
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Building Dickey–Stephens Park
Most of the money for the ballpark came from the public. About 83% of the cost was paid by the community. On August 9, 2005, people in North Little Rock voted. They approved a small, temporary sales tax increase. This tax helped pay for $28 million of the cost. The tax was collected for two years.
The ballpark also raised $5.6 million from its own earnings. A private donation of $440,494 came from Warren Stephens. He also gave land worth $6.3 million. The North Little Rock City Beautiful Commission gave $15,000.
Who Designed and Built the Park?
The ballpark was designed by a company called HKS, Inc.. They are from Dallas, Texas. The main builders were Hensel Phelps Construction from Austin, Texas. They worked with East-Harding Construction from Little Rock, Arkansas.
Work on the park officially started on November 30, 2005. The actual building began on January 26, 2006. The construction finished on March 27, 2007. It took 426 days to build the whole park.
First Game and Important Events
Dickey–Stephens Park opened its doors on April 12, 2007. The first game was between the Frisco RoughRiders and the Travelers. The RoughRiders won 6–5. There were 7,943 fans watching the game.
The ballpark was also the place where a sad event happened. On July 22, 2007, Tulsa Drillers batting coach Mike Coolbaugh was seriously injured during a game. This led to a big change in baseball safety rules. Starting in 2008, all base coaches in Major League Baseball must wear helmets during games. This rule helps keep them safe on the field.
Images for kids
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Entrance to the ballpark in December 2008
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Field and grandstand from center field in July 2009
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Field from grandstand behind home plate in July 2009
