History
Stanley Coveleski Regional Stadium was built in 1987 for $11 million under the leadership of then-Mayor Roger O. Parent. The facility is owned by the City of South Bend and managed by the South Bend Parks & Recreation Department. Stanley Coveleski was a Hall of Fame pitcher who settled in South Bend after his successful baseball career came to an end in 1929. The stadium is now affectionately known as "The Cove". The 5,000-seat stadium is worth an estimated $35 million to $40 million today.
The stadium is home to the South Bend Silver Hawks, a Class A minor league baseball team affiliated with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Silver Hawks, which play in the Midwest League, were named in homage to the Studebaker Silver Hawk, once made in South Bend. Originally affiliated with the Chicago White Sox, the team switched to the Diamondbacks in 1997.
Called "the grandfather of the modern ballpark" by BallParkReviews.com, Coveleski Stadium provided a design template for a move in recent years to bring ballparks back into City downtowns. HOK Sport Inc. (now Populous), original architect of Coveleski Stadium, also designed Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore and Cleveland's Progressive Field.
On July 4, 1987, the stadium held a "Homerun Derby" to see who could "make history" by hitting the first homerun out of the brand new park. Norm Bogunia, a 1985 graduate of South Bend Washington High School and former baseball player there, was the first to homer. He was joined by five other people who also homered that day. Two days later, on July 6, 1987, Joel Reinebold hit the first homerun at the stadium during a regular game. A plaque hangs in the stadium with all the names of those who homered.
In 2007, as Coveleski Regional Stadium celebrated its 20th anniversary, the City of South Bend began a redevelopment plan for the neighborhood surrounding the ballpark prompted, in part, by the relocation of the Gates automotive dealership to Erskine Commons on the city's south side. The City acquired nearly 15 contiguous acres of property surrounding the park as part of a strategy to encourage new mixed-use development near the stadium and enhance its connection with the core of downtown. The City's control of the land maximizes the opportunity for economic growth in line with a master-planned strategy, while minimizing the potential for inappropriate development.
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