Coming soon

Yankee Stadium at Rogers Sports complex field to get artificial turf

The local replica of the home of the Bronx Bombers will be getting artificial turf this summer and will have an expanded role in the Fort Dodge sports scene.

Yankee Stadium in Harlan and Hazel Rogers Sports Complex will be getting the upgrades.

It will become the home field of the Iowa Central Community College softball team and would also be used if the Girls State Softball Tournament moves to a double elimination format.

The City Council awarded Doyle Construction, of Fort Dodge, a $710,020.18 contract for the work, which is to be done by July 15.

"This is a good project," Councilman Dave Flattery said. "It is in conjunction with Iowa Central."

The local version of the historic home of the New York Yankees is at the northeast end of the complex, along with reproductions of Fenway Park in Boston, Wrigley Field in Chicago and Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Collectively, these fields are known as the mini majors.

Yankee Stadium was chosen for the artificial turf installation because it has more of the infrastructure needed to make it a high school and junior college level softball field. It has netting to stop foul balls, which wraps around the home plate backstop and both dugouts. It also has bleachers, and there is enough room there to extend the outfield to 200 feet in center field.

In November, the council approved an agreement with Iowa Central in which the college will pay 50 percent of the cost of installing artificial turf, for a maximum of $400,000. That money will be paid to the city in the 2024 and 2025 fiscal years.

In return, Iowa Central will get reduced field rental rates through 2033.

Doyle Construction was hired in November to do some preliminary work on Yankee Stadium. It is removing the existing fences and dugouts, doing some earthwork, building new dugouts and relocating the scoreboard.

That work is to be done by May 1.

The Yankee Stadium project is the second one at the sports complex that the city and Iowa Central have worked on together.

In the spring of 2023, a new clubhouse opened next to the complex's main baseball diamond, which is the home diamond for the Iowa Central Triton baseball team.

Inside the clubhouse are 35 to 40 lockers, a laundry room, offices for coaches, a room for umpires and a lunch room.

The college owns and operates the clubhouse under an agreement with the City Council. The college also paid for its construction.