KSHB 41 reporter Lily O’Shea Becker covers Franklin and Douglas counties in Kansas. An East Lawrence resident told Lily about this story and said he would like to see it covered. Share your story idea with Lily.
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Grassroots efforts to revitalize Municipal Stadium at Hobbs Park in East Lawrence are energized by the community whose history lives there.
Neighbors, kickball players and community stakeholders are coming together to raise awareness and funds to repair the stadium that was built in 1947 at East 11th and Delaware streets. The goal is to get the stadium on the National Register of Historic Places and then use grants, tax credits and donations to renovate the deteriorating stadium.
From the Native Americans who first lived in the area to Langston Hughes' upbringing and the baseball teams that played in town — a mural on the southeast corner of the stadium tells the history of Lawrence.
Andrew Stockmann works at the Watkins Museum of History in Lawrence. He lives near the stadium and has researched its history.
The Lawrence Colts were the first to break in the field for a semi-professional baseball game in July 1947. Over 30,000 people attended 55 games that season, according to the city of Lawrence.
"It’s had some real baseball history happen here; the Kansas City Monarchs played here in 1949," said Stockmann, who noted National Baseball Hall of Famer Buck O'Neil managed the team at the time.
Although the stadium looked different back then, it was equipped with dugouts, a press box, locker rooms and a concession stand. Those amenities no longer exist, and rust along the field's screen is spreading and the concrete stands show wear and tear.
Lawrence resident Lee Ice grew up in a house four blocks away from Municipal Stadium, but he says he really grew up on the field.
“I hung numbers on the manual scoreboard, I chased foul balls, I batboyed, and I was on the last (American Legion) team that played here in 1973," Ice said.
Ice says his father, Al Ice, played for an American Legion team and coached in for the league for 25 years, many of those years at Municipal Stadium.
Al Ice's legacy lives on at Holcomb Park, where a field is named after him and his brother, Tony. The city of Lawrence says Al and Tony Ice are two of the "main reasons the Legion baseball program has maintained its excellence throughout history."
Once Ice was old enough, he played at Municipal Stadium for American Legion. He says his aunt and his mom ran the concession stand selling popcorn and hot dogs.
"This is what we did all summer, this was us," Ice said.
He's carried his love for baseball with him throughout his life. Ice said he went on to play ball for the University of Kansas and two years in the minor leagues with the Kansas City Royals. In total, Lee says he's coached for 40 years across Lawrence's two high schools, KU and for American Legion.
That's why he understands how passionate Kaw Valley Kickball is about their league at Municipal Stadium.
"They put 800 people in the stadium in the game of the week on a Sunday night," he said. "The barbecues, everything. It’s a community-type event at the same place we did 45, 50 years ago.”
Erin Adams grew up in the East Lawrence neighborhood and has played in the Kaw Valley Kickball league since 2003. During the summer season, the league meets twice a week for practice on Wednesdays and a game on Sundays, which typically fills at least half the stands.
“Some of the people who are here right now are trying to get picked up by teams because we have a cap of 36 teams in our league," Adams said at practice on Wednesday. "We don’t have room for more teams. That’s more than the NFL has, so it’s kind of a big deal in this town.”
Adams said she met her best friends and husband playing with Kaw Valley Kickball. He later proposed to her on the field.
“Growing up, it was always full of little leaguers and Friday night adult baseball leagues, so it’s really sad to see it falling apart and not being used in its original capacity," she said. "The only people who are really still using it are the kickball players.”
Kickball co-captain Arie Auxter also met her husband at Municipal Stadium. They got married at home plate in 2021.
“It’s like a part of my heart, a part of my home," Auxter said. "I want to see it be here forever.”
The next step in the Municipal Stadium at Hobbs Park Legacy Project is to raise enough money for a historic structure report. The report would figure out a master plan for the site, cost estimates and identify needed repairs.
Long-term goals include restoring some of the amenities that once adorned the ballpark.
“It’s still a really cool field in my opinion," Ice said. "The old dugouts are gone, the locker rooms are gone, concessions are gone. All of that’s still underneath, but still, to see it being utilized, we need to take it one step farther.”
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