October 3, 1997

From the river to the lake: Wolfpack baseball moves to Barrow Stadium

After five years of playing on the Riverview Field behind Audubon Zoo, the Loyola Wolfpack baseball team was in search of a home field of its own.

Although the Riverview field had a unique atmosphere and was located close to campus, it was not exclusively for Loyola's use. As a public facility, the field was shared with local high school teams and used in other capacities during the season. Building a stadium solely for the Wolfpack at the Riverview location would have cost a half million dollars and required a major fund-raising effort.

"While looking around the area we stumbled onto Barrow Stadium," explains Athletic Director Craig Bogar who obtained permission from New Orleans Recreational Department (NORD) to begin restoring the field located on the Lakefront. "Loyola formed a true partnership with the city," Bogar adds. Members of the Wolfpack baseball team and the coaching staff donated their time and worked to bring the field up to collegiate standards. The athletic department also invested over $50,000 in renovating the facility.

No longer desperate for a field, the Wolfpack now has Barrow Stadium, complete with a covered grand stand that seats 1,500, a press box, dug-outs, a sound system, batting cages, bull pens, locker rooms, lights for night games, and a score board donated by the Coca-Cola Company. The facility far surpasses the stadium Loyola proposed to build at the Riverview site.

Through its partnership with the city, Loyola was able to help renovate a city facility and save the half million dollar cost of building an equivalent facility. In return, the community surrounding the stadium is upgraded and NORD has used the facility to host the National Babe Ruth Tournament. Loyola also provides free admission to all regular season games to any city employee with identification. The City Council and Mayor Marc Morial approved a 10-year lease, automatically renewable for an additional 10 years, making Barrow Stadium home of the Wolfpack for the next 20 years. Bogar called the partnership a "beautiful arrangement," asserting that the university and the city have "helped each other immensely."

—Alison Grounds, '97, Intern in the Offices of Public Affairs and Publications