Field Of Dreams Movie Site To Expand With Hotel, Theater, Dorms, More Fields
Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 06:20PM By Barry Janoff
April 14, 2022: In the 1989 film Field of Dreams, James Earl Jones says to Kevin Costner, “If you build it, they will come.”
Now, some people are saying, “If you build it bigger, even more will come.”
After purchasing a controlling interest the Field of Dreams movie site this past September, new owners of Go the Distance Baseball, LLC and CEO Frank Thomas today unveiled a multi-year plan to expand the venue to include a hotel, an outdoor concert venue, a hiking trail, more fields for youth and softball and dorms to house players.
The group stressed that it intends to do this “while maintaining the property as a working farm, amid the natural beauty of the rural Iowa landscape.”
The Field of Dreams site is located in Dyersville, in Dubuque County, Iowa, about 200 miles west of Chicago and 25 miles west of Dubuque.
Go the Distance Baseball was established a decade ago to” preserve the Field of Dreams Movie Site farm as a baseball shrine for future generations.”
“I am grateful for all that the game of baseball gave me throughout my career, and now I am proud and excited to lead a team that is building opportunities for players, fans, and families to enjoy our national pastime and for teams to train and compete,” Thomas, a member of the Hall of Fame, said via Go the Distance Baseball.
Go the Distance Baseball said its master plan “provides $80 million in private investment to expand the site and build nine new ballfields, dormitories for teams, and a hotel, among other phased improvements."
They envision adding nearly 100 acres to the original 190-acre footprint of the former Lansing Family farm and movie site, targeting nine new baseball and softball fields for girls and boys, team dormitories and a unique boutique hotel, scheduled to be completed in phases by the end of 2023.
Additional phases through 2025 include a 100,000-square-foot field house, an outdoor concert amphitheater, an RV park, a large park inclusive for children and adults with disabilities and jogging trails through the cornfields.
Go the Distance Baseball said its initial transaction involved the purchase of all the interests in Go the Distance Baseball — owned by the Denise M. Stillman Trust — by This is Heaven, LLC, a venture between Thomas and Rick Heidner. a Chicago-area real estate developer and entrepreneur,
Adding to the original Field of Dreams site has been done before.
In August 2021, MLB staged Field of Dreams presented by Geico between the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox in a 8,000-seat stadium adjacent to the movie site.
MLB Field of Dreams presented by Geico returns on Aug. 11 with a game between the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs.
Go the Distance Baseball said future MLB games are being discussed, “along with a permanent stadium to host the game, as well as college and high school tournaments and championships for men and women.”
Go the Distance Baseball said the “collaboration is already making demonstrable progress with the extension of municipal water and sewer service to the site and surrounding neighbors.
“In just the last month, the Dyersville City Council has awarded contracts for the first two phases of infrastructure work, which will provide water service in time for the Cincinnati Reds versus Chicago Cubs MLB Game on Aug. 11.”
In addition, the entity that manages Go the Distance Baseball — This is Heaven, LLC — said it is establishing a charitable organization, Field of Big Dreams, “to inspire hope and provide life-changing opportunities for children with cancer and military veterans and their families, with the mission of providing resources and support to turn dreams into reality.”
“While the substantial private investment will expand and enhance our facilities, we are deeply committed to preserving the romantic experience of the Field of Dreams, including the views, the baseball diamond, the farmhouse, and the cornfields,” Dan Evans, Go the Distance Baseball COO, said via the group.
“Those images will never change.”
Go the Distance Baseball said the project will “greatly enhance the facilities and amenities for visitors and area residents, while creating jobs and boosting economic development and tourism in Eastern Iowa.”
The phased development will “support hundreds of construction jobs and, when fully completed, the private development alone will create approximately 170 new fulltime equivalent jobs, and events hosted at the site will result in more than $25 million in direct annual spending,” according to Go the Distance Baseball.
“Preserving and enhancing one of Iowa’s top tourism destinations makes this project a win-win for the local and state economies,” Keith Rahe, president and CEO of Travel Dubuque, said via the organization.
“Emerging from the pandemic, the multi-billion-dollar youth sports industry has shown its resilience and will continue to grow, so these plans will ensure that the movie site’s place in the lore of America’s pastime is secure for future generations.”
Go the Distance Baseball said the project is “already making demonstrable progress with the extension of municipal water and sewer service to the site and surrounding neighbors.
“In just the last month, the Dyersville City Council has awarded contracts for the first two phases of infrastructure work, which will provide water service in time for the Cincinnati Reds versus Chicago Cubs MLB Game on Aug. 11.”
“We are excited by the progress that is being made by owners who have deep roots in baseball and the financial resources to infuse private investment dollars that will turn long-held visions for the Field of Dreams into reality,” Jacque Rahe, executive director of the Dyersville Economic Development Corp., said via the group.
Go the Distance Baseball said it is consulting with RDG Planning & Design, Origin Design, Conlon Construction Co., and Leopardo Companies to provide architectural, engineering, construction, and planning services for development of the master plan.
MLB Back To Iowa With Field Of Dreams 2022
Iowa Is Heaven For Frank Thomas, Who Buys Into Field Of Dreams
Back to Home Page