Lee Ice told community members gathered Sunday that if advocates don’t push to restore and protect the Municipal Stadium at Hobbs Park, they could lose it.
The Municipal Stadium Legacy Project’s goal is to get the stadium, at 702 E. 11th St. in East Lawrence, on the National Register of Historic Places and use grants, donations and tax credits to help update the stadium’s infrastructure.
“There are people in this community that have no idea that there’s a stadium there,” Ice, a Lawrence resident and former baseball player, said. “A structure like that will probably never be built again in this community.”
Since December 2024, the community has raised over $20,000, which was used to pay Hernly Associates for completing the National Register of Historic Places nomination, according to a Q&A poster at the event.
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Andrew Stockmann, curator at the Watkins Museum of History, said they are interested in putting together interpretive signage at the stadium to share the history of the location.
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The next step of the project is getting a historic structure report estimated to cost $30,000. The report would provide engineer-backed recommendations on next steps for the stadium.
“We would have to figure out how to best maintain the historic structure while rehabilitating or upgrading it however we can,” Stockmann said.
Originally built in 1947, the stadium hosted semi-professional league and Negro League baseball games. The stadium saw 30,000 spectators in the 55 games in its first season. The stadium originally had dugouts, a press box, locker rooms and a concession stand. These areas are now just used as storage.
Youth baseball, adult softball and adult kickball have all found community at the stadium, with the 36 teams of the Kaw Valley Kickball League playing there every summer.
Mary Frances Riner grew up on Delaware Street and said she spent time playing baseball there as a kid.
“This formed a lot of kids’ childhood,” Riner said. “It was a place to come together to watch and learn baseball. It’s the love of the game. I grew up with it, and I’d like to see some of that come back.”
Riner and Ice, who are cousins, grew up in East Lawrence and played baseball at the stadium all throughout their childhood. Ice went on to play for the University of Kansas and the Kansas City Royals but said he got his start at Municipal Stadium.
Ice said many people with historic stories of the stadium have since died.
“It’s important to preserve the past because it helps us with our future,” Ice said. “That stadium would never be duplicated.”
Riner and Ice said they want to see more youth baseball games held in the stadium, as well as more community events such as movie nights or concerts.
Other community members wrote things on sticky notes such as partnering with Watkins Museum and making the stadium more ADA accessible.
Community members working on the legacy project submitted the application to the State Historic Preservation Office on May 8. Stockmann said it will take six to eight months to complete, but the office will be in communication with feedback during that time.
Folks can donate to the project through the Douglas County Community Foundation at this link.
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Maya Smith (she/her), reporting intern, has worked with The Lawrence Times since February 2026. She was born and raised in Lawrence and is a journalism student at the University of Kansas. She works at the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications as a communications assistant and has been a freelance reporter for the Kansas Reflector since 2024. Read her work for the Times at this link.
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