Hawkinson Ford Field Crestwood, IL
Stadium Minor League History: Frontier League 1999-present
Current Status: Home
of the Cook County Cheetahs of the Frontier League (Independent)
What's Good: This
is a very interesting place, especially design-wise. The facility
is attractive enough, but takes assymetry to extremes -- while a small
lower deck rings the field, a larger and steeper upper deck runs above
the lower seating area on the third base side (click
here for a view of the first base stands). Behind home is a structure
containing the pressbox and two luxury boxes. But a substantial roof
that is cantilevered over the upper deck continues around behind home,
covering a portion of the self-contained pressbox area, which doesn't even
need a roof. It's really all kind of strange, but not in a bad way
-- the place is quite unique, and avoids the monotonous cookie-cutter design
of so many recent parks. Other positives are that the seats are close
to the field, and the closeness of the seating combined with the elevation
of the upper deck gave the front row of that seating area a terrific view
of the field. Parking was more than adequate, and there was
no one running around checking tickets or otherwise impeding one's travels
around the stadium. The atmosphere was laid back and cheerfully working
class (more of a South Side crowd here), and overall my visit was very
enjoyable -- Hawkinson Ford Field is different, alright, but still a great
place to see a game.
What's Not So Good: Most
of the drawbacks are related to the weird design. The lower deck
only has seven rows of seats, for instance, so getting lower deck
seats around the infield can be tough. And the main concourse --
though behind the last row of lower deck seating, as in most new parks
-- is split in two from behind home down the left field line, with one
half facing the field on the inside and the other half facing outside,
towards the parking lot. The two walkways are separated by the part
of the structure containing the restrooms and concession stands, though
-- inexplicably -- the food and bathrooms are accessed from the outer concourse,
not the inner one (which would would've made more sense, since one could
then see the field while buying refreshments). Also, because
of a large picnic area at the right field end of the lower deck, seats
in the last section on that side have trouble seeing the right field corner
of the field. Lastly, the place appeared to be aging less than gracefully
-- though the ballpark is less than two years old, I witnessed rust forming
around some hand railings, crumbling concrete along the edge of the concourse,
and several broken seats.
This Photo:
July 15, 2000 Cook County Cheetahs vs. Dubois County
Dragons
