Spring’s Eternal at Dodgertown

In 1952-53, O’Malley began to transform Dodgertown into his vision as the finest spring training site in baseball. His first step was to build a stadium with fan-friendly amenities for the loyal Vero Beach following. On March 7, 1952, O’Malley announced at a press conference in Miami that there was “a strong possibility that the Brooklyn Dodgers will build the proposed new 5,000-seat stadium in Vero Beach.”Bob Curzon, The Vero Beach Press-Journal, Sports, March 13, 1952 O’Malley noted that respected Capt. Praeger, who was consulting engineer on the United Nations building in 1953 and the White House renovation in 1949, had spent several days in Vero Beach and submitted construction cost estimates.

O’Malley wrote a letter to Holman on May 15, 1952 stating in part, “As you know, it is my intention to demonstrate, in a practical way, that the Dodgers are permanently interested in Vero Beach and in that direction we propose to build a beautiful concrete stadium seating 4200. Such a stadium will have great value to the City of Vero Beach as well as to the Dodgers.

“You will note from the plans that the new stadium lends itself to 4200 desirable seats in the event that football games are to be played there. Temporary bleachers can also be erected on the open side of the field which I am told, can accommodate 2500 people. Should some regional or especially important football games develop, the Dodgers would be willing to have the new stadium used for that purpose on a rental basis of 25 cents per paid admission plus the actual cost of converting the field from baseball to football conditions and the return of the field to baseball conditions...I have tried to make the rental as low per seat as possible but still commensurate with the substantial investment that we will have.

“You will understand that a good many people will question our wisdom in spending this amount of money in a spring training stadium, particularly when it is normally one of the inducements that the different cities offer the various ball clubs to train there. I justify the investment, not on the immediate future but on a long range forecast. I believe that Vero Beach will develop a greater interest in baseball than has been shown so far. You are familiar with the attendance figures for the two major league exhibition games we played this year. That attendance, obviously, is not an attraction to other clubs to book games with us at Vero Beach but there is a possibility with a new stadium and greater public support we can justify the playing of many more of our spring exhibition games at our winter home in Vero Beach.”

Also that month, O’Malley wrote to executive Wid C. Matthews of the Chicago Cubs regarding the possibility of sharing a spring training site, today a common practice, in Vero Beach. The Cubs had just moved camp to Mesa, AZ, after seven years at Catalina Island, CA, in 1952. “We believe that two organizations could train in the same town if we had separate fields and eating and sleeping quarters,” O’Malley wrote on May 5, 1952. “We would not be too much concerned about the problem of fraternizing. I have in mind we would give you a 21 year sub-lease or we might arrange to surrender those premises and have the new lease made out directly to your organization. You know from the general location that there is ample room for you to expand, should you wish.”Letter by O’Malley to Wid C. Matthews, May 5, 1952

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• Emil Praeger Design >

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