Daytona Beach's century-old Jackie Robinson Ballpark gears up for $30,000,000 renovation with a vision to preserve baseball icon's legacy

Jackie Robinson Ballpark, home of the Florida State League's Daytona Tortugas team, was first built in 1914 under the name 'City Island Ballpark'. It was not until 1990 that the ballpark was renamed in honor of Hall of Famer, who became the first to play as an Afro-American in the MLB in modern times.

As per the local report, Florida city officials have decided to allocate $30,000,000 for the renovation of this iconic stadium while keeping the essence of its history intact.

"The ballpark has been here for over 100 years and hopefully with what we’re doing now, baseball will be played here for another 100 years” - GM of Daytona Tortugas said.

The renovations will include a new lighting system and a new roof, which will be painted and modified.

"There’s a ton of work going on behind home plate and on the first base side, so you name it, it’s going to be sandblasted, power washed, painted, the roof is completely off" - GM Jim Jaworski said.

The Daytona Tortugas team made it on the 2019 Minor League Baseball list but was eliminated by the end of 2020. However, the city sought to keep the team on the list by including stadium renovations in the deal.

GM Jim Jaworski also said he felt it was necessary to consider renovations as they would preserve the history and legacy of MLB legend Robinson, for whom the ballpark is named.

GM Jim Jaworski also stated that upgrades were important to protect the heritage and legacy of MLB legend Robinson, after whom the ballpark is named.

"On March 17, 1946, Jackie Robinson played right here at this very field” - GM Jim Jaworski added.

This event is historically significant because some localities, including Sanford and DeLand, refused to allow the MLB icon to play during spring training in 1946. Branch Rickey, the Brooklyn Dodgers' general manager, had to find a city that would allow Robinson to play for the Montreal Royals.

"He thought first of Daytona Beach because he had heard of Mary McLeod-Bethune and her influence in moderating race relations...This was a very unusual place where Blacks had political power and so the city officials, they didn’t want to upset the Black community” - Historian Leonard Lempel said.

Jackie Robinson's statue was vandalized and stolen from Kansas Park a few days before black history month

Thieves cut off the bronze statue of Jackie Robinson, leaving behind the MLB legend's feet planted on the base. CCTV camera footage shows two people loading the statue in a silver-colored pickup truck. According to city officials, the thieves might be planning to sell the statue as scrap metal.

"It has a huge impact in regards to the history of our community, the history of baseball, what Jackie Robinson really means and this step is actually the opposite of everything that Jackie Robinson stood for. So it’s just appalling to me" - Troy Houtman, the Director of Parks and Recreation said.

MLB and its 30 teams have decided to replace the vandalized Jackie Robinson statue. The statement was issued on the first day of Black History Month.