INDIANAPOLIS — Minutes before the doors opened for the Indianapolis Indians’ game Saturday night against the Toledo Mud Hens, fans packed the sidewalk near Maryland Street outside of Victory Field.
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The home team’s banner, which hung between the JW Marriott and a nearby parking garage, welcomed them to the show.
“Best Summer Ever. Celebrating 30 years of Victory Field.”
Once 6 p.m. hit, the celebration began. Some of the architects from 1996 were honored. Indians President and CEO Randy Lewandowski and chairman of the board Bruce Schumacher received a mayoral proclamation.
The families of the late Jim Morris and Dr. Gene Sease, the lead private fundraisers and champions for the construction of Victory Field, threw out the first pitch and led the calling of “play ball.”
Pat Early, former president of the Capital Improvement Board (CIB), and Barney Levengood, former executive director of the CIB, were pivotal in the opening of the ballpark.
Former Mayor Stephen Goldsmith and former Governor Evan Bayh partnered in a bi-partisan effort to bring Victory Field to White River State Park.
Saturday’s extravaganza was a throwback of sorts.
“When you hit a milestone, it gives you an opportunity to look back,” Lewandowski said. “We’ve brought back some of the employees that were here in 1996 when we opened it up. The dignitaries and the politicos and the VIPs that helped make it happen.
“It’s a great look back to see how far we’ve come from those days, but it’s also not the end and and it is also going to be a springboard for us to think about what the next 30 years can look like and that’s what our mentality will be once we through tonight.”
At a time when Bush Stadium, the old ballpark on 16th Street, needed more than a facelift and when downtown was on an economic rise, the idea of building Victory Field came to life in the 1990’s.
It was an old diesel repair shop where the current ballpark stands. Before ground broke on the southwest corner of downtown, the Capital Improvement Board partnered with the Indians to secure the land.
Construction was limited to an $18 million budget with public and private investments. The goal was to create a baseball hub for low-cost family entertainment meant to surround it with other projects to help the development of downtown.
It paved the way for the creation of developments like Lucas Oil Stadium, Gainbridge Fieldhouse, JW Marriott hotel, White River State Park and the NCAA headquarters.
Victory Field powered the revitalization of downtown Indianapolis. It’s become a rendezvous for baseball die-hards and casual viewers with an outfield that frames the city skyline perfectly.
“We set out to build the best Triple-A baseball park in the country,” Goldsmith said. “We brought in the best designers. I toured baseball facilities across the country … We wanted to put it in a place that would be iconic, in terms of its view of the city, that would continue to offer low-cost family entertainment, and it would catalyze the development around it.
“We wanted it to be close enough to the convention center and what we hoped to be new hotels to play a part there. We wanted to be close enough to what was IUPUI to kind of connect that to the community, so it was important to be a part of the new downtown.”
Victory Field was hit by doubt once it opened its doors three decades ago. There were diehards of the old ballpark. Skeptics doubted that the new stadium could spark downtown’s growth.
It has since earned respect for how it lived up to hype and adapted to the times. Lewandowski said the team always seeks to improve the fan experience and upgrades are done with intentionality to fit the ballpark.
“This side of downtown didn’t have a lot of things going for it,” Lewandowski said. “I think there was some skepticism. Could a minor league ballpark (be a catalyst)? But as it’s been talked about, the goal was to build the best minor league ballpark and back then it was considered the best and it still holds its own. In a lot of respects, it can still be called the best for the way it stood the test of time over the 30 years.”
The Indians lost to the Mud Hens 4-3, but the night ended with a celebratory fireworks show. A tribute fit for three decades of baseball excellence. A blast from the past that also signified the future.
“It’s been a home run, no pun intended,” Levengood said. “The part of why you go to a ball game with your family is a reasonable night out, is somewhere you can go, still afford it and take your kids. That ballpark is just so clean, so attractive and so special. It clearly exceeded and surpassed all of our hopes and dreams.”
Marc Ray is a high school sports reporter at the IndyStar. He can be reached at [email protected] , and on X, formerly Twitter, at @themarcszn.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: 'It's been a home run.' Victory Field celebrates 30 years, sees downtown Indy grow up around it
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