Miles Field - Demise of The Stadium

Demise of The Stadium

In 1999, the Timberjacks left Medford and relocated to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, leaving the city without a pro baseball franchise. After many years of the field's continued use by high school and American Legion teams, and despite efforts to both raise funds to remodel the stadium and to bring in a new team to play there, it was torn down in 2004 to make way for a controversial new Wal-Mart Super Center that opened in 2012. Two years later, Harry & David Field was constructed just down the street from the old Miles Field site. Under an agreement between the venue and the city of Medford, that field was built to accommodate youth baseball, high school baseball and American Legion baseball, but not a professional team.

The Miles Field site remained empty and unoccupied due to the legal battle over the site with involves the Medford City Council, Wal-Mart and the Medford Citizens for Responsible Development. On June 4, 2009, the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals ruled to block the project temporarily until a traffic study is prepared. The city council plans to appeal that ruling. Despite the MCRD's best efforts to block construction, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled in favor of Walmart on November 18, 2010 and the new Supercenter got the go-ahead to be built. The court overturned a decision by the state's Land Use Board of Appeals to do a traffic study. Construction started on the new Walmart in early 2012 and was completed in the summer of 2012.