The 40,000 sf masonry stadium, which has a sculptural steelcanopy, has seating for 3,450 people. The stadium has lawn seating,a picnic area, a "party deck" and a children's playground. Thereare also 14 enclosed suites that have air conditioning, carpet andcabinets, says Michael Marchal, director of construction operationswith Holland Construction Services. The park has a team store whichis accessible from both inside and outside of the ball park,multiple concession stands and a "club house" which has the lockerroom, changing areas and training rooms, Marchal says.Additionally, the park has a 2,800 sf banquet room and amaintenance building.

The ball park has an artificial turf field which will be homefield for the Minors and will also be used by college baseballteams and high school baseball, football and soccer teams. Thestadium will also be used for concerts and other non-sportingevents and hosted the Pops at the Park concert on July 1.

The Simmons decided to construct a baseball stadium in Marionand sought out baseball teams because they felt there was a void inthe area with the closest minor league teams being about a90-minute drive away, Marchal says. The nearest minor leaguebaseball teams are the Gateway Grizzlies in Sauget, IL and theRiver City Rascals in O'Fallon, MO. "They had done studies and itshowed that the area would be a good one for minor leaguebaseball," he says. Construction originally started approximately1.5 years ago and was temporarily put on hold until it was decidedthe baseball team that would play at the stadium. Constructionbegan in "high gear" in December and was recently completed, hesays.