Field Of Dreams Stadium Ready For 2021 MLB Game

Global design firm Populous, BrightView, and other firms have collaborated to recreate the iconic field featured in the 1989 Hollywood film.

Global design firm Populous is a powerhouse in venue design and large-scale event execution and, this summer, the firm will execute a baseball-themed triple-play via the seasons three highest profile MLB events.

As the nation emerges from the global pandemic and spectator sports once welcome fans back to venues, the team at Populous celebrates America’s love of the game, providing overall operations coordination and other event services for:

  • the Major League Baseball All Star-Game in Denver (won 5-2 by the American League for the eighth straight year) on July 13;
  • the Little League Classic on August 22 in Williamsport, PA;
  • and, teaming up with BaAM Productions and BrightView for the long-awaited “Field of Dreams” game featuring the Yankees and White Sox on August 12 in Dyersville, IA. The newly designed ballpark was purpose-built for the game to be held in the cornfield where the movie was originally filmed.
Field of Dreams
Field of Dreams 2021 (Photo: courtesy of Populous)

MLB Field Of Dreams Stadium

In the 1989 classic film “Field of Dreams” starring Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, portraying American novelist Terence Mann, says “The one constant through all the years Ray has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It’s been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time.”

Scheduled for August 12, 2021, the MLB Field of Dreams games is a regular season MLB game between the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees, scheduled for August 12, 2021. It will be played at a new 8,000 seat stadium built at the 1989 film’s site in Dyersville, Iowa. The White Sox will be designated as the home team for the game, thus counting towards their home record. Originally planned for August 2020, this will be the first MLB game played in the state of Iowa.

As part of the “Dream Team” for the Field of Dreams game, Populous provided the feasibility study, ballpark, and supporting structures design in addition to the event services.

Populous has designed more than 20 major league stadiums in the last three decades, including Coors Field, site of this year’s MLB All-Star Game. Populous also designed the ballpark for the Fort Bragg Game held July 3, 2016 and was honored to receive the Ballpark of the Year Award from Ballparks.com. For all three events, Populous Event is responsible for the temporary ground up ballpark design which includes all aspects of a permanent ballpark including broadcast and press operations, sponsorship, transportation, security, and ceremonies. Populous also implements comprehensive signage plans for wayfinding and room identification as well as the overall overlay plans for each event. The firm provides in-game and on-site operations staff to help organizers ensure their events run smoothly as it has for other large-scale events such as the Olympic Games, Super Bowl, and the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

“The pandemic and a late change-up of venue for the All-Star Baseball Game may have thrown us some curves along the way, but this year’s in-game events were a big hit, and we are looking forward to what is on deck,” said Todd Barnes, senior event architect and senior principal at Populous, which is also overseeing the staging of this year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo.

“’If you build it, they will come,’ as the movie says. ‘This field, this game — it’s a part of our past… It reminds us of all that once was good, and it could be again.’”

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