NU Baseball, Softball Teams to Land New Playing Fields

Lincoln -- The University of Nebraska Regents have approved a joint venture between the City of Lincoln, NEBCO, Inc., and the University of Nebraska, to build a new $29.5 million baseball/softball complex. University of Nebraska Director of Athletics Bill Byrne announced that the University will raise $10.6 million toward the project to give the Husker baseball and softball teams one of the finest playing facilities in the Big 12 Conference and the nation. The complex will be located just north of the Haymarket district near downtown, west of Memorial Stadium and near Sixth and Charleston streets.

"This stadium is going to be better than anything I could've imagined, NU Baseball Coach Dave Van Horn said. "When I was hired, I was expecting maybe a 2-3 million dollar renovation of Buck Beltzer Stadium, but this is going to give us one of the best facilities in the Midwest.

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 everyone around the state has asked me," 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.

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

NU Director of Athletics Bill Byrne is optimistic about raising the $10.6 million and says fund raising may take only four to five months.

"We've had a remarkably positive response from the public," Byrne said.

Other funding sources for the baseball complex are: NEBCO, $6.1 million (including $1.4 million from selling NEBCO's 15-acre property at 32nd and Baldwin streets to the city); the city of Lincoln, $7.9 million; other city community projects, $3.7 million; and the Railroad Transportation Safety District, $1.3 million. Under the baseball agreement, the city would own the complex and lease it to the university and NEBCO.