History of franchise ballparks Quad Cities River Bandits

joshua hill, (2003)


2004: major ballpark renovations

sitting on banks of river, stadium has survived many floods, including major mississippi river floods of 1965, 1969, 1993 , 2001, of breached facility. pictures of flooded stadium plentiful in news media. great flood of 1993 damaging facility.

designed combat recurring , costly toll of flooding, huge project undertaken in 2004 modernize , protect facility. project joint effort of river bandits , city of davenport . result massive redesign of field , grounds @ modern woodmen park. entire structure , field of original 1931 stadium redone. exterior façade of old stadium remained, concessions, concourses, level loge boxes, , seating areas being reconstructed. improvements created new ballpark within shell of old park. other 2004 renovations included raised playing field; slight shift of playing field better face river; removal of drive behind outfield fence; addition of berm in outfield , addition of exterior brick/metal columns, put in place decoration , hold portable flood walls inserted outside stadium. new protections secured , protected facility during other major mississippi river floods in 2008, 2011 , 2013. before 2004 renovations, flooding created financial , logistical problems, team regularly forced move home games local facilities or other mwl venues (mostly clinton, iowa). team played several games @ north scott high school , brady street stadium in 1993 , several games @ moline s black hawk college during 2001 flood.

the new park has incorporated modern , creative features. including corn field beside left-field, players introduced. team unveiled $347,000 hd video board shortly before bandits hosted 2011 midwest league all-star game. renamed , remodeled modern woodmen park selected midwest leagues best ballpark baseball america , earned five-star rating ballparkdigest.com.

in 2004, author tim rask released book titled baseball @ davenport s john o donnell stadium.

in 2007, stadium renaming rights went rock island-based-modern woodmen of america reported $4.5 million.

since then, modern woodmen park has earned more accolades minor league ballpark in country. voted best minor league ballpark in america readers of usa today , 10best.com , midwest league s best ballpark baseball america. earned 5-star rating ballparkdigest.com, named 1 of 2 beautiful ballparks in minor league baseball usa today, 1 of top 10 in nation parade magazine, , selected #2 coolest minor league ballpark in america complex magazine.

under main street baseball s leadership, river bandits have added many fun new features ballpark, including new outfield bar, new picnic area, 5 concourse-level loge boxes , 80-foot long high-definition ribbon-board, huge new 20 x 36 tall hd videoboard, new playground, birthday room, additional office , storage space, new concessions stand , more dozen new portable food carts, hall of fame autographed jersey display, unmatched collection of bobbleheads across country , sponsored corn field players introduced @ game s outset.

in 2011, bandits unveiled new budweiser champions club, 2500 s.f. glass-enclosed multi-purpose banquet hall glass garage doors open , close depending on weather. room has helped increase wedding business more 500%, , regularly sold out during christmas season. voted ballparkdigest.com best ballpark renovation under $1 million.

in 2014, added 110-foot tall ferris wheel landscape of stadium, ferris wheel located behind left-field wall. also, 30-foot tall drop-n-twist, mechanized gyroscope , old-fashioned carousel go along dual 300-foot long zip line, 6 bounce houses , 25-foot tall rock climbing wall in play! added in 2014 3 new themed areas, including 1,500 s.f. deck featuring firepit keep fans warm during april , may, 51 new swivel-chair seats adjacent field, , 18 new extra-wide seats adjacent visitor s dugout, 4 new padded seats set aside veterans , active-duty military.

in 2015, franchise continued improve ballpark 10,000 s.f. expansion of third-base concourse.