Investors buy ‘Field of Dreams’ site
They bought it, and now they hope even more people will come.
An investor group led by an Illinois couple has completed its purchase of the famed “Field of Dreams” movie site in Iowa with plans to preserve it and build an adjacent baseball training and tournament complex. The 193-acre property includes the field and farmhouse made famous in the 1989 Kevin Costner baseball classic.
Go the Distance Baseball LLC, which counts baseball Hall of Famer Wade Boggs among its investors, closed on the Dyersville, Iowa, property last week for $3.4 million plus interest in a deal that was 2 1/2 years in the making.
“We’ve got that big milestone under our belt now, and we’re just getting into the business of opening the (site),” said Denise Stillman, president and CEO of Go the Distance. She and her husband, Mike, began their pursuit of the land in July 2010.
All-Star Ballpark Heaven is scheduled to open with 12 fields and 60 team “clubhouses” for lodging in 2014. Once complete, the complex will also include a community center, banquet facilities and an auditorium, among other amenities, according to Go the Distance. Construction is to begin this spring.