Louisville's Waterfront Park has closed
Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 1:51 pm
January 1st
Stadiums close all the time, they come and go throughout history, all that remains through time is a set of plaques scattered across the landscape marking where great halls stood. Where great cathedrals of sport welcomed millions of people to worship at their alters, but somehow it’s never quite the same when it’s your stadium, your cathedral, your special place that’s disappearing into the sands of time.
That’s the New Year’s Day present the people of Louisville woke up to in 2036. It wasn’t perhaps a complete surprise, rumours had been circulating ever since ‘The Genius’ left. Waterfront Park was getting old, built in 2020 it was 15 years old, only eight BBA stadiums were older – Atlantic City’s Trump Park, California’s South Pacific Field, Hawaii’s Diamond head Baseball Park, Las Vegas’ The Casino By Moe Fugger, Madison’s Shotz Stadium, Montreal’s Le Palais, New Orleans’s Karen Huckfeldt Memorial Stadium and Valencia’s Honigsfeld Field. There it was though splashed all across the front pages of ‘The Louisville Times’ & ‘The Courier-Journal’
Vince Osborn's walk-off homer on Sept 11th 2035 was Waterfront Park's last homer off the bat of a Slugger
The Louisville franchise had long been salting away the funds necessary to fund the bulk of the project and the plans were lying in the GM’s safe ready for this time. The Mayor of Louisville Metro Council had long been on board, ready to waive any submitted plans through and waive any awkward planning considerations away. Millard Dovale had spent his donation monies wisely in the political arena ensuring the Mayor & council wouldn’t cross the Sluggers owner. After the unexpected collaboration between Chevrolet and the franchise had resulted in the financing and relocation of their rookie affiliate from Mobile to Bowling Green, Dovale had sounded out the giant motor company about becoming their business partner in the new stadium complex. The Sluggers owned a shed load of land around the waterfront area and the future use of that was all in the mix as far as any partnership was concerned. With stricter & stricter vehicle emission taxes being levied across the city access to a waterfront area with the council prepared to turn a blind eye to any building regulations the way was open perhaps for the building of a waterfront commercial dock allowing goods and other commodities to be off loaded to a new industrial park directly thus beating any emission tax for travelling through the city. Chevrolet had baulked at the overall cost of the ambitious plans and for a time it looked as the plans wouldn’t come to fruition.
The Metro council proved to be a useful partner though in these circumstances. They were already holding preliminary talks with the global Ford Motor Company about allowing the car giant to enlarge it’s Kentucky Truck Plant in the Northeast corner of the city, there was a deal to be worked here. Over the latter months of 2035 representatives of the Ford Motor company, the Louisville Sluggers and the Metro council met on a very regular basis at the City Hall in Downtown Louisville to finalise the plans for the whole waterfront area. The three main partners all wanted their cuts of the project and there was much horse-trading behind the scenes to grease the mechanisms of the deal. When the dust settled and the Mayor, Millard Dovale and the Business Development Manager of The Kentucky Truck Plant shook hands over the council table all believed they had a good deal in place that would be of great benefit to all concerned not only in the financial circumstances but in the community and publicity events as well.
The January 1st editions of the two biggest Louisville papers therefore not only carried the obituary of Waterfront Park but several pages detailing the entire scope of the Waterfront Development Complex. The entire area of the former baseball stadium, the giant car parks and the neighbouring industrial park would be levelled and several firms would be relocating to the area formally owned by Ford in the Northeast of the city. A new 45,000 turf stadium would spring up in the rightmost area of the complex, it would be state of the art featuring a giant jumbotron display built into the centre and right field walls which would display the scoreboard and advertising details. A vast amount of parking available to season plan holders would be actually under the stadium and patrons would reach the ballpark levels by high-speed elevators directly into the sky boxes and “Old Style” bar areas. A giant food court would be constructed linking the new stadium to a 15,000 minor league stadium that would house the Louisville’s Double-A affiliate relocated from Alabama and now re-named “The Louisville Fire”. The connection here would be the brand-new Fire Station built on the far side of the ballpark that would also house the headquarters of the Louisville Division of Fire & Rescue, all paid for and maintained jointly by the #~Louisville Sluggers and the Ford Motor Company. The ballpark would be called The Firehouse at Waterfront Park emphasising the link that made this possible and the fact that the new minor league affiliate would be playing on the site roughly where the former left-field bleachers of the Waterfront Park were.
The Left side of The Waterfront Development Complex will all be the new Headquarters and plant of the Kentucky Truck Assembly Plant which will feature an small industrial dock where Ford can receive the parts & equipment from ships on the Ohio river, assemble the trucks at the plant and then ship them out without ever having to drive hardly anything through Louisville, saving on the emission tax and benefiting the citizens of the city. The most visible part of this will be the new stadium naming rights which will now result in the Louisville stadium being known as “The Kentucky Truck Plant Stadium”. Further details of the development will emerge as the construction continues and fans will no doubt be eagerly awaiting the release of the new 2036 baseball fixtures anticipating the first ever game in their new stadium.
An Artist's impression of the new Kentucky Truck Plant Stadium
Note: other aspects of the Waterfront Development Complex have been left out of this picture
Stadiums close all the time, they come and go throughout history, all that remains through time is a set of plaques scattered across the landscape marking where great halls stood. Where great cathedrals of sport welcomed millions of people to worship at their alters, but somehow it’s never quite the same when it’s your stadium, your cathedral, your special place that’s disappearing into the sands of time.
That’s the New Year’s Day present the people of Louisville woke up to in 2036. It wasn’t perhaps a complete surprise, rumours had been circulating ever since ‘The Genius’ left. Waterfront Park was getting old, built in 2020 it was 15 years old, only eight BBA stadiums were older – Atlantic City’s Trump Park, California’s South Pacific Field, Hawaii’s Diamond head Baseball Park, Las Vegas’ The Casino By Moe Fugger, Madison’s Shotz Stadium, Montreal’s Le Palais, New Orleans’s Karen Huckfeldt Memorial Stadium and Valencia’s Honigsfeld Field. There it was though splashed all across the front pages of ‘The Louisville Times’ & ‘The Courier-Journal’
The last game ever there turned out to be the September 15th rubber game against the Phoenix Talons, lost 6-2 by the Sluggers meaning the final series held there was a losing one. The final two homers hit out of the old park were by Talons’ players, rookie Vince Osborn had the privilege of knocking out the final Louisville homer four days earlier, on September 11th, a game-winning walk-off shot in the bottom of the ninth. The fans would not have a chance to say their farewells to their favourite seat, their favourite food stalls, their favourite nooks & cranny’s; all they could do is go down and stare through the construction site fences that had engulfed the whole Waterfront Park area as demolition commenced immediately. With the holiday period in full swing no-one had hardly noticed as the Park breathed it’s final breath and was consigned to the “Historical Parks of the BBA” section.Waterfront Park to close
Grand old park will be demolished to make way for business park.
Vince Osborn's walk-off homer on Sept 11th 2035 was Waterfront Park's last homer off the bat of a Slugger
The Louisville franchise had long been salting away the funds necessary to fund the bulk of the project and the plans were lying in the GM’s safe ready for this time. The Mayor of Louisville Metro Council had long been on board, ready to waive any submitted plans through and waive any awkward planning considerations away. Millard Dovale had spent his donation monies wisely in the political arena ensuring the Mayor & council wouldn’t cross the Sluggers owner. After the unexpected collaboration between Chevrolet and the franchise had resulted in the financing and relocation of their rookie affiliate from Mobile to Bowling Green, Dovale had sounded out the giant motor company about becoming their business partner in the new stadium complex. The Sluggers owned a shed load of land around the waterfront area and the future use of that was all in the mix as far as any partnership was concerned. With stricter & stricter vehicle emission taxes being levied across the city access to a waterfront area with the council prepared to turn a blind eye to any building regulations the way was open perhaps for the building of a waterfront commercial dock allowing goods and other commodities to be off loaded to a new industrial park directly thus beating any emission tax for travelling through the city. Chevrolet had baulked at the overall cost of the ambitious plans and for a time it looked as the plans wouldn’t come to fruition.
The Metro council proved to be a useful partner though in these circumstances. They were already holding preliminary talks with the global Ford Motor Company about allowing the car giant to enlarge it’s Kentucky Truck Plant in the Northeast corner of the city, there was a deal to be worked here. Over the latter months of 2035 representatives of the Ford Motor company, the Louisville Sluggers and the Metro council met on a very regular basis at the City Hall in Downtown Louisville to finalise the plans for the whole waterfront area. The three main partners all wanted their cuts of the project and there was much horse-trading behind the scenes to grease the mechanisms of the deal. When the dust settled and the Mayor, Millard Dovale and the Business Development Manager of The Kentucky Truck Plant shook hands over the council table all believed they had a good deal in place that would be of great benefit to all concerned not only in the financial circumstances but in the community and publicity events as well.
The January 1st editions of the two biggest Louisville papers therefore not only carried the obituary of Waterfront Park but several pages detailing the entire scope of the Waterfront Development Complex. The entire area of the former baseball stadium, the giant car parks and the neighbouring industrial park would be levelled and several firms would be relocating to the area formally owned by Ford in the Northeast of the city. A new 45,000 turf stadium would spring up in the rightmost area of the complex, it would be state of the art featuring a giant jumbotron display built into the centre and right field walls which would display the scoreboard and advertising details. A vast amount of parking available to season plan holders would be actually under the stadium and patrons would reach the ballpark levels by high-speed elevators directly into the sky boxes and “Old Style” bar areas. A giant food court would be constructed linking the new stadium to a 15,000 minor league stadium that would house the Louisville’s Double-A affiliate relocated from Alabama and now re-named “The Louisville Fire”. The connection here would be the brand-new Fire Station built on the far side of the ballpark that would also house the headquarters of the Louisville Division of Fire & Rescue, all paid for and maintained jointly by the #~Louisville Sluggers and the Ford Motor Company. The ballpark would be called The Firehouse at Waterfront Park emphasising the link that made this possible and the fact that the new minor league affiliate would be playing on the site roughly where the former left-field bleachers of the Waterfront Park were.
The Left side of The Waterfront Development Complex will all be the new Headquarters and plant of the Kentucky Truck Assembly Plant which will feature an small industrial dock where Ford can receive the parts & equipment from ships on the Ohio river, assemble the trucks at the plant and then ship them out without ever having to drive hardly anything through Louisville, saving on the emission tax and benefiting the citizens of the city. The most visible part of this will be the new stadium naming rights which will now result in the Louisville stadium being known as “The Kentucky Truck Plant Stadium”. Further details of the development will emerge as the construction continues and fans will no doubt be eagerly awaiting the release of the new 2036 baseball fixtures anticipating the first ever game in their new stadium.
An Artist's impression of the new Kentucky Truck Plant Stadium
Note: other aspects of the Waterfront Development Complex have been left out of this picture