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Opened July 2, 1987; first season 1988 · 501 W. South St.
Built for families on purpose. Stanley Coveleski Regional Stadium went up on the south edge of downtown for 11 million city dollars, construction completed in April 1987 and the gates opened July 2, 1987; its first tenant season came the following spring, 1988, as the South Bend White Sox. The distinction matters and this article keeps it: the park opened in 1987, the team in 1988. What the building did became the minor leagues' template: its luxury suites were the first in a United States minor-league ballpark, and its open concourse, where a parent in the concession line never loses sight of the field, or of a child, became the design the whole industry copied. South Bend children called it the Cove, for Coveleski, the Hall of Fame spitballer it was named for.
The modern park. Andrew T. Berlin bought the team on November 11, 2011, and the renovations that followed pushed the family design further, play areas and splash features inside the gates and a fun zone beyond the outfield; the naming rights went to the Pokagon Band's Four Winds Casinos in 2013, Four Winds Field at Coveleski Stadium, and after the 2014 season the affiliation changed to the Chicago Cubs and the team became the South Bend Cubs, which filled the park with the region's largest fan base. The pennants, the no-hitters and the prospects belong to this site's SPORTS section. This section claims the ballpark as what it was designed, from its first blueprints, to be: the city's front porch for a family evening.
Sources
- The History Museum, South Bend (historymuseumsb.org), South Bend Cubs history: stadium built by the city for 11 million dollars; construction completed April 1987; tenants from 1988.
- Wikipedia, "Four Winds Field": opened July 2, 1987.
- South Bend Cubs (MiLB) team history: first suites in a United States minor-league park; open-concourse template; White Sox affiliation from 1988; Berlin purchase November 11, 2011; Four Winds naming rights 2013; Cubs affiliation and South Bend Cubs name after the 2014 season.