Kokomo Plans Include New Baseball Stadium

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Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight says the city plans to move forward with an $11.5 million baseball stadium. He says the project includes $2.5 million for flood mitigation. Construction is set to begin soon on the 4,000-seat stadium with a planned opening next April. Four Howard County high schools have committed to playing at the new facility. During an event this morning, Goodnight also announced the city will pay off its $6 million parking garage five years early.

Kokomo, Ind. — A Baseball Stadium Committee appointed by Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight has unanimously recommended building a new baseball stadium in downtown Kokomo in a development project that will also address flooding along the Wildcat Creek.

The Committee recommended building a stadium that will accommodate over 4,000 people for baseball and other sporting events. It will have the ability to expand seating for concerts and other special events.

The $11.5 million project will include $2.5 million for flood mitigation and $9 million for stadium construction. The City of Kokomo is also announcing it will pay off the $6 million parking garage five years early.

“Little did we know that the need for comprehensive flood mitigation and the need to re-establish a first class baseball facility would eventually merge into one of the largest, new developments in downtown’s history,” said Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight.

“Kokomo is paying off a $6 million debt for the new parking garage five years early, repurposing a flood prone area, building a baseball stadium that will be enjoyed by generations, and beginning to alleviate flooding concerns in central Kokomo–all while still keeping our City's cash balances above 2011 levels.”

The facility will be the first new baseball stadium in Kokomo since Highland Park Stadium was built in 1955. That stadium was once home field for the Kokomo Dodgers, who were a Minor League affiliate of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Stadium construction is expected to begin soon and open in April 2015 in time for next year's high school baseball season. Four Howard County high schools have committed to playing baseball in the new stadium.

Source: City of Kokomo