Walker Stadium (baseball)

Charles B. Walker Stadium at Lents Park is a baseball stadium located in Lents Park in the Lents neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. It has been home to the West Coast League Portland Pickles baseball team since 2016. The Pickles play thirty home games per sixty game season. The team pays rent to the City, cleans the stadium, and provides security during games. Outside of the dates set aside for the team, the stadium is open for permitted play by anyone who reserves it.[1] The Northwest Independent Baseball League plays many of its games at Walker Stadium.[2]

Walker Stadium
Full nameCharles B. Walker Stadium at Lents Park
Location4601, 4727 SE 92nd Ave
Portland, OR 97266
Coordinates45.48846°N 122.56975°W / 45.48846; -122.56975
OwnerCity of Portland
OperatorPortland Parks & Recreation
Capacity1,566
Field sizeLeft – ft.
Left Center – ft.
Center – ft.
Right – ft.
SurfaceGrass
Construction
Opened1956
Renovated2016
Tenants
Portland Pickles (WCL) (2016–present)

The ballpark has hosted as many as 1,877 fans for a Pickles game.[3]

History

The City of Portland purchased 32 acres from private owners in the 1940s and 1950s to assemble land between SE 88 and 92 and SE Holgate and Steele to expand Lents Park. The city prepared a central plan in 1953 to propose locations for a baseball stadium, playing fields, tennis courts, community buildings, pathways, and parking areas. Construction on the stadium began in 1956 and included lights for night games.[4] The stadium was named for Charles B. Walker, the city's first Sports Director in 1935 who helped organize the first men's and women's softball tournaments held west of the Mississippi, and in 1950 was appointed as commissioner of the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) for the Portland area.[5]

In 2008, Merritt Paulson, owner of the Portland Beavers examined building an 8,000 to 9,000 seat minor league ballpark on the site of Walker Stadium for $45 million. Paulson planned to begin construction in March 2010, and the Beavers would play there in 2011.[6] The location was eventually rejected for the Beavers due to objections from neighbors.[7]

2016 Renovation

In March 2015, Portland and Great West League officials announced plans to renovate the stadium, adding 500 seats and concessions and complementing the city's urban renewal goals for the Lents neighborhood.[8] Walker Stadium was supposed to have received upgrades as part of a 1994 bond measure but other municipal projects competed for limited funding.[9]

Under the plans, the public-private partnership of the Portland Pickles, Portland Parks & Recreation, and the Portland Development Commission spent $650,000 to upgrade the city-owned ballpark with Portland's urban renewal agency paying $200,000, the parks bureau $50,000, and the baseball team $400,000. The renovations included new seating with chair-backs, new scoreboard, new dugouts, new grass, a playground, and other improvements. The team agreed to pay $200 per-game in rent with payments beginning in 2016 and annual 3.5 percent increases.[10]

The renovation was completed in June 2016 on schedule for the Pickles' first game.[11] Portland Mayor Charlie Hales threw out the first pitch at the first game at Walker Stadium on June 10, 2016, an extra-inning loss to the Marysvale GoldSox.[12]

References
  1. "Lents Park". portlandoregon.gov. The City of Portland, Oregon. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
  2. "Location Schedule - Walker Stadium". nwibl.org. Northwest Independent Baseball League. Retrieved 2018-07-15.
  3. "PICKLES: PORTLAND 12, Gresham 1". Portland Tribune. Portland, Oregon. June 28, 2018. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
  4. "Lents to get night lights". The Oregonian. 16 March 1956. p. 35.
  5. "Lents Park: SE 92nd Avenue and Holgate Blvd". portlandoregon.gov. The City of Portland, Oregon. Retrieved 2018-07-15.
  6. Larabee, Mark (October 11, 2008). "Lents neighborhood might be Portland's diamond in the rough". The Oregonian. Portland, Oregon. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
  7. Larrabee, Mark (June 22, 2009). "Lents Park out as Beavers' home". The Oregonian. Retrieved June 25, 2009.
  8. Leis, Michelle (March 10, 2015). "Baseball Returns To Portland With New Amateur Team". Portland, Oregon. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
  9. Schmidt, Brad (March 9, 2015). "Amateur baseball league swinging for new home at Lents Park". The Oregonian. Portland, Oregon. Retrieved 2018-07-15.
  10. Schmidt, Brad (March 13, 2015). "Inside baseball: Lents stadium rent is $200 a game -- City Hall Roundup". The Oregonian. Portland, Oregon. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
  11. Fox 12 Staff (June 10, 2016). "PP&R announces renovations to Walker Stadium are complete". KPTV. Portland, Oregon. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
  12. Pillorget, Dillon (June 11, 2016). "Portland Pickles baseball is a crunchy, tangy good time at first home game". The Oregonian. Portland, Oregon. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
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