Shea Stadium is a former baseball stadium located in Peoria, Illinois, less than a mile north of

Bradley University Bradley University is a private university in Peoria, Illinois. Founded in 1897, Bradley University enrolls 5,400 students who are pursuing degrees in more than 100 undergraduate programs and more than 30 graduate programs in five colleges. Th ...

and just to the west of the USDA

National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research The National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research (NCAUR) (sometimes still called the Northern Lab; known locally as the Ag Lab) is a United States Department of Agriculture laboratory center in Peoria, Illinois. The Center researches new ...

. Converted to a soccer-specific facility in 2003, it is owned and operated by

and is the home of the

Bradley Braves The Bradley Braves are the intercollegiate athletics teams of Bradley University, located in Peoria, Illinois, United States. The Braves' athletic program is a member of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) and competes at the NCAA Division I lev ...

men's and women's soccer teams.

History

The property broke ground around 1968 and opened as a baseball facility in 1970 for

Braves baseball. Its name was chosen to honor Bradley

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches an ...

and baseball coach John "Dutch" Meinen. It served as the home field for Bradley baseball for 32 years, from 1970 to 2001, and the home field for the

Peoria Chiefs The Peoria Chiefs are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. The team was established in 1983 as the Peoria Suns. They are located in Peoria, Illinois, and are named for the Peor ...

from their first game on April 19, 1983 to 2001. The baseball field was renovated twice: once in 1982, and once in 1992 when it was given a $2.2 million overhaul. The facility was renamed Pete Vonachen Stadium at Meinen Field on June 6, 1992, in honor of the Chiefs' owner. After the teams moved to O'Brien Field for the 2002 season, the university began to look for other uses for Meinen Field, eventually settling on its current setup as a soccer-only facility. It was substantially reconfigured, with a few remnants of its baseball days remaining: the old press box; most of the first-base seating area, which now forms the main seating area for the soccer field; some of the light standards; and the concession stands and some other outbuildings on the property. On October 25, 2002, Meinen Field was renamed Shea Stadium after Tim Shea, a

alumnus. The first Bradley soccer game at the newly renovated Shea Stadium was in August 2003. On June 10, 2008, Shea Stadium played host to two Major League Soccer teams in a U.S. Open Cup qualifier when the Chicago Fire played against the

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference and began play in 1996 as one ...

in front 3,829 people, the largest crowd ever to see a soccer game at Shea Stadium. On January 23, 2020, the

USL League Two USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syst ...

announced that Peoria City would start play in the 2020 season in the Hartland Division of the Central conference, but the season was cancelled 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 identi ...

. Peoria City will, after two years of delay, will began play in the Deep North Division of the Central conference. Their first game was on May 14 at Shea against Minneapolis SC Which ended in a 2-2 draw.

References

{{Bradley Braves baseball navbox College soccer venues in the United States Defunct college baseball venues in the United States Minor league baseball venues Bradley Braves baseball Buildings and structures in Peoria, Illinois Soccer venues in Illinois Baseball venues in Illinois Sports venues in Peoria, Illinois Sports venues completed in 1970 Sports venues completed in 2002 1970 establishments in Illinois

History

See also

References