Henley Field Explained

Stadium Name:Henley Field
Fullname:Athletic Park (1925–1942)
Clare "Doc" Henley Ball Park (1942–present)
Location:1125 North Florida Avenue, Lakeland, Florida 33805-4645
Built:1922
Opened:March 17, 1925
Renovated:2002
Owner:Lakeland Parks and Recreation Department
(Pending sale to Florida Southern College)
Operator:Lakeland Parks and Recreation Department
Surface:Grass
Construction Cost:$
Tenants:Lakeland Highlanders (FSL) (1923–1926)
Cleveland Indians (AL) (1923–1927)
Detroit Tigers (AL) (1934–1942, 1946–1965)
Lakeland Pilots (FIL) (1946-1950, 1952)
Lakeland Patriots (FIL) (1951)
Lakeland Pilots (FSL) (1953-1955)
Lakeland Indians (FSL) (1960)
Lakeland Giants (FSL) (1962)
Lakeland Tigers (FSL) (1963-1964, 2002)
Florida Southern College Moccasins (SSC) (1960s-present)
Lakeland Flying Tigers (FSL) (2016)
Seating Capacity:1,000
Dimensions:Left – 325 ft
Left center – 365 ft
Center – 405 ft
Right center - 385 ft
Right – 330 ft
Henley Field
Coordinates:28.0567°N -81.9564°W
Location:Lakeland, Polk County, Florida
Built:1925
Refnum:97000458
Architecture:Mission/Spanish Revival
Added:May 23, 1997

Henley Field is a historic site in Lakeland, Florida. Built in 1922, it is located at 1125 North Florida Avenue. Clare Henley, for whom the park was named in 1942, encouraged its construction in an effort to persuade a professional baseball team to train there. On May 23, 1997, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. Henley Field is located adjacent to Bryant Stadium, a football stadium.

Henley Field was used as the home ballpark of the fictional Class D Tampico Stogies in the 1987 HBO movie Long Gone which starred William Petersen and Virginia Madsen. During the film the stadium was known as Smythe Field.[1]

The ballpark was renovated prior to the 2002 season at a cost of $250,000. Henley was renovated to enable the Lakeland Tigers to play at the historic ballpark during the 2002 season.[2] while their home field, Joker Marchant Stadium (which is also the current spring training home of the Detroit Tigers), was renovated during the 2002 season.

On September 2, 2015, the City of Lakeland announced it would sell Henley Field for $1 million to United Methodist Church-affiliated Florida Southern College, whose baseball team have used the park for the past 55 years.[3]

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093433/ Long Gone at the Internet Movie Database
  2. News: Historic Henley Field Is a Trip Back in Time for Players . Rick Rousos . Lakeland Ledger . 2002-04-04 . 2011-03-09.
  3. Web site: City of Lakeland to sell historic Henley Field to Florida Southern College for $1 million | TheLedger.com . John Chambliss . September 3, 2015 . theledger.com . April 23, 2016.