What's replacing Winter haven's Chain of Lakes Stadium? The plans still include baseball

WINTER HAVEN — A piece of Winter Haven history is being torn down, removing what remains of a bygone era to make way for new growth.

Demolition began on the Chain of Lakes Stadium, which once hosted spring training for the Boston Red Sox and later the Cleveland Indians, on Monday. The process is expected to take four to eight weeks.

"They are hopeful to finish sooner than that," said Julie Adams, Winter Haven's director of parks, recreation and culture. "We have a tight timeline, and we are going to deliver this project on time."

Before demolition could start, crews spent part of Monday carefully salvaging some of stadium's original seating. Adams said some of the seats will be restored to be installed into the new project to pay tribute to baseball's history. Others will be sold via lottery for Winter Haven community members or baseball fans to purchase, with details to come on the city's website at www.mywinterhaven.com and its social media channels shortly.

"We understand and have really seen the emotional response over the last few days from the community for this stadium," she said. "It's some way for people in this community to be able to have a piece of that for their own."

A glistening new complex

In late summer, construction is expected to start on an estimated $20 million state-of-the-art facility for amateur and collegiate baseball. The price tag will be split with $10 million contributed from Polk County and the Polk County Sports Marketing team and $10 million coming from the city.

The new complex will feature four collegiate, artificial-turf baseball fields complete with dugouts, batting cages, team pavilions, fan areas and some expanded parking for the fields. The four fields will be located on the upper level of the site, toward the east away from U.S. 17.

"We are putting in artificial turf fields, which is a big deal," said Andy Palmer, the city's parks planning and strategic initiatives manager. "It will decrease our irrigation need, chemical applications and required maintenance."

Even better, it will allow the new fields to be used quickly after the summer rains. Some of the existing fields on lower geographical level, closer to U.S. 17 and the canal between lakes Lulu and Shipp, have had extensive problems with flooding in recent years. Palmer said it's taken the city a lot of engineering work to plan around that.

"With all the master planning efforts that have occurred over the years with the fieldhouse and for this portion, it really came back to: If we are going to do this, the fields needed to be in the upland portion of the site."

Palmer said the city brought in geotechnical experts and surveyors to determine where the "muck line" was, or the level to which the fields frequently flooded. The expanded parking for the site will be largely constructed near the uplands portion, with some overflow parking in the southern low-lying grounds.

Much of the existing field closest to U.S. 17 will be turned into the master water retention for the site, Palmer said, mimicking a nature park with wetland plantings and potential future perimeter pathways for recreational use. This will also help provide stormwater filtration before it goes out into Lake Lulu.

City officials hope to have the first phase of construction completed by February, in time for the annual Russmatt Baseball Tournament. The city hopes to be finished with a new entrance building by summer of 2025, which will include new ticket booths, a concession stand, restrooms and team rooms.

The new site is also expected to be heavily used by local youth teams.

"There is a huge demand for baseball operations," Adams said. "We have a thriving baseball program here on natural grass, and this provides additional opportunities to play locally."

The conceptual plans for the site show several amenities that the city may build in a second phase, Palmer said, or more piecemeal as funding for construction becomes available. These features include extending the perimeter pathway into the restored wetlands, a playground and activities aimed at reactivating the shoreline of Lake Lulu including a beach volleyball court, dock and kayak boathouse.

"Maybe one day we'll see a kid from Winter Haven playing ball and tournament baseball grow up to play in the big leagues," Adams said.

Sara-Megan Walsh can be reached at swalsh@theledger.com or 863-802-7545. Follow on X @SaraWalshFl.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Winter Haven has big plans for Chain of Lakes Stadium