Bleecker Stadium is a

multi-purpose stadium A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used by multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a specific design philosophy tha ...

in Albany,

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. The stadium was once a reservoir for the Albany public water system. Today it has a baseball diamond, football/soccer field, and a softball field used by area high schools, colleges, and youth and adult leagues. Bleecker Stadium hosts several post-season games and series, including the Capital District

Pop Warner Glenn Scobey Warner (April 5, 1871 – September 7, 1954), most commonly known as Pop Warner, was an American college football coach at various institutions who is responsible for several key aspects of the modern game. Included among his inn ...

Super Bowls. The stadium is on Clinton Avenue which is to the south, Ontario Street is to the east, and Second Street is to the north. Swinburne Park borders Bleecker to the west. In 2018 the stadium and neighboring Swinburne Park were added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

History

Bleecker Stadium was built as a

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project; originally the stadium was the Bleecker Reservoir, which was constructed in 1850. As

Governor of New York The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has ...

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

established a jobs relief program that made the conversion of the reservoir, which had become obsolete, possible; and this led to the creation of between 500 and 1,000 jobs. The stadium opened on

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1934. The clubhouse was built in 1940 under the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

, also set up by Roosevelt, who by then was

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. Covering , the stadium was the ninth largest in the entire United States and the second largest on the

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behind

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. It was named for Albany businessman James Edward Bleecker, a member of an old Albany family which produced several

mayors In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities ...

and other officials.

Serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

Lemuel Smith Lemuel Warren Smith (born July 23, 1941), is an American convicted serial killer who was the first convict to kill an on-duty female corrections officer. Smith was already in prison for the murders of at least five people when he murdered prison ...

was brought to Bleecker Stadium in 1977 for an unusual police line-up. Smith and several others were placed behind large plywood sheets scattered around one end of the stadium and a police canine named Crow at the other end sniffed at a priest vestment that Smith had used to wipe himself when

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after a double-homicide. Crow ran straight across Bleecker Stadium to Smith. In 1981, the stadium was the site of a

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match between a regional team of Americans against the

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n national rugby team, called the

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. Governor

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tried to block the game from being played as protest against the South African policy of

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

, and he even brought the issue all the way to the

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Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Erastus Corning 2nd Erastus Corning 2nd (October 7, 1909 – May 28, 1983) was an American politician. A Democrat, Corning served as the 72nd mayor of Albany, New York from 1942 to 1983, when Albany County was controlled by one of the last classic urban political ...

and the ''

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'' both supported the game being played. Steve Ontiveros,

Charlie O'Brien Charles Hugh O'Brien (born May 1, 1960) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Oakland Athletics (1985), Milwaukee Brewers (1987–90), New York Mets (1990–93), Atlanta Bra ...

, and

Mike Gallego Michael Anthony Gallego (born October 31, 1960) is an American former professional baseball player and current coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an infielder from 1985 to 1997, most notably as a member of the Oakland Athletics te ...

are all

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

players who once played at Bleecker Stadium.

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ballplayer

Johnny Evers John Joseph Evers (July 21, 1881 – March 28, 1947) was an American professional baseball second baseman and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1902 through 1917 for the Chicago Cubs, Boston Braves, and Philadelphia Philli ...

was appointed the Superintendent of Bleecker Stadium after being in financial straits and ill-health later in life.

Structure

The stadium has an embankment with three visitor entrances cut through it, each is dedicated to veterans of a particular war; the

US Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

, and the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Bleecker Stadium seats 7,000 people for football and soccer and 2,000 for baseball.

Teams

The eight teams of the Albany Twilight League, organized in 1930, have played baseball at Bleecker Stadium since 1934. The ATL was the first and is the oldest user of the stadium. The

Albany Metro Mallers The Albany Metro Mallers are a semi-professional football team. The team has regularly appeared in national semipro playoffs and won the national semipro title in 2008, 2013, and 2016. Some of the team's players have gone on to play professional foo ...

are a semi-pro football team that played at the stadium, from 1974 to 2011. The Albany Dutchmen is an amateur team of college players that play in the

New York Collegiate Baseball League The New York Collegiate Baseball League (NYCBL) is a collegiate summer baseball league founded in 1978 and sanctioned by the National Alliance of College Summer Baseball, National Amateur Baseball Federation and Major League Baseball. Each NYC ...

, and has played at Bleecker Stadium since 2009. The varsity football and baseball teams of the

City School District of Albany The City School District of Albany (also known as the Albany City School District) is the public school district of Albany, New York. The district is an independent public entity. It is governed by the City School District of Albany Board of E ...

play at the stadium.

Former teams

Various colleges have used the field for sports, such as the

College of Saint Rose The College of Saint Rose is a private Roman Catholic college in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1920 by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet as a women's college. It became fully co-educational in 1969; the following year, the college ad ...

Siena College Siena College is an American private Franciscan college in Loudonville, New York. Siena was founded by the Order of Friars Minor in 1937. The college was named after Bernardino of Siena, a 15th-century Italian Franciscan friar and preacher. St ...

, and the

University at Albany, SUNY The State University of New York at Albany, commonly referred to as the University at Albany, UAlbany or SUNY Albany, is a public research university with campuses in Albany, Rensselaer, and Guilderland, New York. Founded in 1844, it is one ...

. In 1982 the Albany A's (later Albany-Colonie A's, the

Albany-Colonie Yankees The Albany-Colonie Yankees were a Minor League Baseball team that played in the Double-A Eastern League from 1983 to 1994. They were located in Colonie, New York, and played their home games at Heritage Park. The team was known as the Albany A ...

, and

Albany-Colonie Diamond Dogs The Albany-Colonie Diamond Dogs were an independent baseball league team based in Albany, New York from 1995 to 2002. The team played at Heritage Park in Colonie. The Diamond Dogs competed in the Northeast League from 1995–98 and then in the ...

) played at the stadium while awaiting completion of Heritage Park in the nearby town of Colonie.

References

{{Portal bar, Architecture, Baseball, National Register of Historic Places Sports venues in New York (state) Minor league baseball venues Baseball venues in New York (state) Sports venues in Albany, New York Soccer venues in New York (state) Softball venues in New York (state) American football venues in New York (state) High school football venues in the United States 1934 establishments in New York (state) Sports venues on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) National Register of Historic Places in Albany, New York Sports venues completed in 1934

History

Structure

Teams

Former teams

See also

References