NU Baseball, Softball Teams to Land New Playing Fields

Lincoln, Neb. -- The University of Nebraska has teamed up with the City of Lincoln and Nebco, Inc., with a plan to build a new $24.4 million baseball/softball complex tentatively set for the 2001 playing seasons. University of Nebraska Director of Athletics Bill Byrne announced that the University will spend $9.2 million toward the project, giving the Husker baseball and softball teams one of the finest playing facilities in the Big 12 Conference and the nation.

The complex, which was officially announced Friday, July 30 by Lincoln Mayor Don Wesely, will be located just north of the Haymarket district near downtown and west of Memorial Stadium.

"It's going to be even better than probably anything I could've imagined back in December of 1997 (when he was hired)," NU Baseball Coach Dave Van Horn said. "I was expecting a couple, 3 million, maybe renovation (of Buck Beltzer Stadium).

Van Horn, who led the Huskers to the 1998 Big 12 Tournament Championship and the school's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1985, said the new facilities will be a great recruiting advantage.

"This has been the No. 1 question that has been asked to me around the state," Van Horn said. "I have never been able to really answer it until now. Our kids now realize that we are going to be someone to contend with every year, and we are going to keep the Midwestern kids here."

The Husker baseball team will receive a 4,400 to 5,000 seat stadium, while head softball coach Rhonda Revelle and the softball team will be the recipient of a 2,000 to 2,500 seat softball stadium. The complex, which has yet to be named, will also have one or two practice fields, as many as 2,000 parking stalls for university use and a walkway linking the facility to campus and downtown.

The project was made possible thanks to the combined efforts of university and city officials, and Nebco, Inc. President Jim Abel. Abel is funding $6.1 million, while the city is financing the remainder of the bill.

The new baseball stadium will also bring minor league baseball back to Lincoln for the first time since 1962, as Abel will own an independent Northern League franchise. Northern League teams play an 86-game schedule, including 43 at home, with the season running from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

Wesely called the project a "work in progress" as the plan still needs approval by the Lincoln City Council, which will vote Aug. 10 after an Aug. 9 public hearing. "But we wouldn't be standing before you if we weren't optimistic," Wesely said. "I think it would be a catastrophe if this didn't get done."

Van Horn said the baseball stadium's plans also include expensive grass that uses heat coils to stimulate growth in the spring. The softball field will also have grass fields, while the practice fields will be astroturf.