Riverfront Stadium is a

baseball park A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into the infield, an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined, and the outfield, where dimensions can vary widely from place to pla ...

in downtown

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...

, United States. It serves as the home ballpark of the

Wichita Wind Surge The Wichita Wind Surge are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Wichita, Kansas, and began play in 2021 at Riverfront Stadium. The Wind Surge were supposed to b ...

of the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

. The team relocated from the

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

suburb of

Metairie, Louisiana Metairie ( ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States, and is part of the New Orleans metropolitan area. With a population of 143,507 in 2020, Metairie is the largest community in Jefferson Parish and was (a ...

, after the 2019 season. Riverfront Stadium has a total seating capacity of 10,025 people with 6,000 in fixed seating in addition to luxury suites and a grass

berm A berm is a level space, shelf, or raised barrier (usually made of compacted soil) separating areas in a vertical way, especially partway up a long slope. It can serve as a terrace road, track, path, a fortification line, a border/ separation ...

right field A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

. When not used for baseball, the city plans to use the facility for sports festivals, high school football, concerts, and an

ice rink An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water and/or an artificial sheet of ice created using hardened chemicals where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The ...

in winter. The new ballpark will share hosting of the

National Baseball Congress World Series The National Baseball Congress of Wichita, Kansas is an organization of 17 amateur and semi-professional baseball leagues operating in the United States and Canada. Since its founding in 1935 by Hap Dumont, it has conducted an annual North Americ ...

(NBC World Series) with

Eck Stadium Eck Stadium is a baseball stadium in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is located on the south side of 21st Street between Hillside and Oliver on the campus of Wichita State University in northeast Wichita. The stadium is home of the Wichit ...

Wichita State Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

History

Previous stadiums

Island Park baseball stadium was built in 1912 on what was then

Ackerman Island Ackerman Island was a sandbar island located in the Arkansas River in downtown Wichita, Kansas, United States. It was located on the north side of the Douglas Street Bridge. History The sandbar started to form in the 1870s, supposedly due to a d ...

in the

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United Stat ...

, north of the Douglas Street bridge. Baseball was played there from 1912 to 1933, when the stadium was torn down so the island could be removed to widen the river into one channel. Lawrence Stadium was built on the site of the current stadium in 1934 as a

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 ...

(WPA) project during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. In 1978, it was renamed to

Lawrence–Dumont Stadium Lawrence–Dumont Stadium, previously known as Lawrence Stadium, was a baseball stadium in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It was located on the northwest corner of McLean Boulevard and Maple Street, along the west bank of the Arkansas River, in ...

. In November 2018, the stadium was demolished to make room for the new Riverfront Stadium. The

was played entirely at Lawrence–Dumont Stadium from 1935 until 2018.

Current stadium

Riverfront Stadium was built on the site of the former Lawrence–Dumont Stadium. Ground was broken for the ballpark in February 2019. A

topping out In building construction, topping out (sometimes referred to as topping off) is a builders' rite traditionally held when the last beam (or its equivalent) is placed atop a structure during its construction. Nowadays, the ceremony is often parlaye ...

ceremony, marking the placement of the last steel beam, was held on August 7, 2019. The stadium name was announced on March 6, 2020. The ballpark was built to host the

, a Triple-A team of the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

. However, a combination of the cancellation of the 2020 season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

and

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), ...

's realignment of the minor leagues for 2021, resulted in the team dropping down to the Double-A

without having played a Triple-A game. On April 10, 2021, the Wichita State Shockers baseball team hosted

the University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the university in Texas with over 47,000 students. Its campus, which is primarily in s ...

in the first game played at Riverfront Stadium.

References

External links

City of Wichita Stadium Project
{{Kansas-baseball-venue-stub 2019 establishments in Kansas Baseball venues in Kansas Sports venues in Wichita, Kansas Texas League ballparks