The Deaconess Sports Park will soon receive an upgrade that will make the baseball & softball complex even more attractive to teams from around the region. The Evansville Convention & Visitors Bureau (also known as Visit Evansville) announced that eight of the Deaconess Sports Park fields will be upgraded with synthetic turf. The turf will be used on those infields as well as the batting cages and bullpens for those fields. This project is scheduled to start in early November and is expected to be completed in time for the 2022 season.

Why Change to Turf?

There are a number of factors that influenced the decision to upgrade to turf. This particular synthetic turf will reduce the temperature of the playing surface, which makes a big difference if/when you're playing three or four games on a hot Saturday in July. The turf will also provide better drainage which will reduce the number of rainouts and the length of rain delays. This upgrade will also allow the fields to be used by older players (13U), which will allow for even more tournaments.

Tim Fulton, Director of Sports Facilities at Evansville Sports Complex, says, "The conversion of these infields to this state-of-the-art synthetic surface will help Deaconess Sports Park remain one of the premier facilities in the midwest and position the park for future tournament growth," said  "The larger regional tournament organizers tend to target facilities with the ability to resume play after a rainfall providing almost guaranteed gameplay quickly," said Fulton.

The Deaconess Sports Park opened in 2015 and it has had an enormous economic impact on Evansville and Vanderburgh County. Approximately 2,500 teams come to town each year which has equaled about $100 million in revenue for our area. The price tag for this synthetic turf is just under $2.9 million.

The Deaconess Sports Park, along with the Goebel Soccer Complex, is located at 6800 North Green River Road in Evansville.

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