FORT WORTH, Texas — A historic Fort Worth baseball stadium where Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays and Babe Ruth once played is set to be demolished.
The Tarrant Regional Water District (TRWD) board of directors voted Tuesday to tear down La Grave Field, which has been vacant since 2014. The ballpark has since become a dangerous eyesore.
But the board committed to preserving the field's historic amenities, including the century-old dugouts, and did not rule out construction of a new ballpark.
"There is long history of baseball in Fort Worth and on the island," board member Paxton Motheral said. "What we're voting on today is about the physical structure, not about the future of sports on Panther Island."
The district, which acquired the property in 2019, says it spends $200,000 each year on ballpark maintenance and security. Still, people have broken into the facility to graffiti its walls or set fires.
At the Tuesday meeting, TRWD chief administrative officer Mick Maguire showed video taken during a drone flythrough of the park. The scoreboard is rotting, rows of seats are caving, and graffiti covers nearly every inch of the stadium's concrete.
"Because of the condition of it and where it is, it's become a safety hazard," Maguire said. "It's a place we continue to pour money into and it's just not getting any better."
The property is in a prime, waterfront location on the peninsula the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will soon convert to an island. Fort Worth plans to develop the resulting neighborhood into a transit-oriented neighborhood, complete with entertainment amenities.
City leaders envision a district that emulates and rivals San Antonio's River Walk.
In March, consultants charged with updating the city's vision for "Panther Island" recommended La Grave's demolition. They noted the ballpark's current condition does little to honor its storied past.
Tuesday's vote does not prevent construction of a new ballpark on the same site, Maguire said. Several groups have expressed interest in constructing a new ballpark on Panther Island, he added, but none committed to restoring the existing infrastructure.
There is more interest in land nearby. Sources tell WFAA at least one group aims to build a mixed-use development, anchored by a new ballpark, on Panther Island a few blocks from La Grave Field.
"This organization is open to looking at what the opportunities are," Motheral said. "This would not close the door on opportunity for sports here."
Larry O'Neal, among the Forth Worth residents who advocated for La Grave's preservation, conceded its demolition is probably the "right thing" to do.
"As long as they're going to keep some of the history, I think that's good," he said. "I just hope it's not glass, mirrors and chrome."
O'Neal, a history buff who runs the popular Fort Worth Memories Facebook page, remembers attending baseball games at La Grave with his grandfather and father.
"It was just an institution of what Fort Worth was about," he said.
The abandoned stadium standing today is the third ballpark at La Grave Field, "Baseball in Fort Worth" author Mark Presswood says.
The first facility opened in 1926. The Fort Worth Panthers, a Texas League baseball team, needed a bigger stadium to accommodate its growing fanbase.
In 1949, La Grave Field burned and flooded days apart. The Brooklyn Dodgers, which in 1946 affiliated with the Fort Worth club, paid for the stadium's reconstruction.
The second La Grave Field opened in 1950. It was the first baseball stadium in the American southwest designed for television broadcasts, Presswood says.
The ballpark was the temporary home of the Dallas Rangers from 1960 through 1962.
The Fort Worth Cats, newspaper writers' abbreviation for the Panthers' nickname, played their final game in 1964. La Grave Field was torn down in 1967.
Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, Ty Cobb, Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio are among the hall-of-famers who played on the field in its golden era.
Developers built the current La Grave Field in 2001, keeping the original dugouts. Home plate is in the exact location today as it was in 1926.
The Fort Worth Cats resumed play as an independent club until their United League folded in 2014. Play briefly resumed before the Coronavirus Pandemic, which ultimately ended any chance for the club's revival.
TRWD originally had a contract with the Save La Grave Foundation, a group that hoped to restore the field. According to a release, TRWD ended the agreement with the foundation in 2020, saying the group was "unable to comply with the contract's terms."
For years, the field has sat unoccupied and without purpose.
There is no timeline for La Grave Field's demolition.