Midland, MI - - Currie Stadium proposed to be demolished
    - Has become hazardous due to flooding
Photo: Midland Daily News
FILE — The pitching clock in the lower left-hand corner of the score board ticks down to 16 as Team USA pitcher Zane Chason pitches to a Botswana batter during the first inning of a game at Currie Stadium.
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It wasn't an easy decision to make and one Director of Public Services Karen Murphy said she has been procrastinating announcing.
Tuesday night at the regular meeting of the Parks and Recreation Commission, Murphy announced a proposal to demolish the historic Currie Stadium, located in Emerson Park in Midland.
At about 78 years old, the fast pitch softball stadium has been subject to several floods, which have caused the concrete structure to deteriorate and become dangerous. Even with $150,000 that went into the stadium in 2013 for repairs, the structure has only gotten worse.
FILE — The pitching clock in the lower left-hand corner of the score board ticks down to 16 as Team USA pitcher Zane Chason pitches to a Botswana batter during the first inning of a game at Currie Stadium.
... moreIt wasn't an easy decision to make and one Director of Public Services Karen Murphy said she has been procrastinating announcing.
Tuesday night at the regular meeting of the Parks and Recreation Commission, Murphy announced a proposal to demolish the historic Currie Stadium, located in Emerson Park in Midland.
At about 78 years old, the fast pitch softball stadium has been subject to several floods, which have caused the concrete structure to deteriorate and become dangerous. Even with $150,000 that went into the stadium in 2013 for repairs, the structure has only gotten worse.
"We don't want anybody underneath that stadium - we don't want our own staff under there; we don't want an umpire under there so, we don't want ballplayers," Murphy said.
In addition to the condition of the stadium, fast pitch is no longer as popular as it once was, Murphy said.
"Softball at one time was a huge sport for Midland - we were the softball capital of the world. We hosted many many large tournaments, both nationwide and local-wide tournaments and it was an amazing time to be in softball from the '40s all the way up to the early '90s," Murphy said.
However, the number of Midland fast-pitch teams has dwindled over the years.
For these reasons, Murphy said the city can no longer justify putting taxpayer money into the stadium. And to rebuild the same kind of stadium in a floodplain just wouldn't be feasible financially.
"This is not an easy decision for us to come to and it won't be popular with everybody in the community as Currie Stadium is such an iconic piece of Midland's history," Murphy said. "I always said I wanted to retire before we had to come to this point because I didn't want to be the Midland kid who said it's time to take the stadium down, but here I am, the Midland kid, saying it's time."
Murphy said she has already spoken to the Gilbert Currie family, who donated the stadium in 1942, about the proposal.
The demolition will cost about $130,000 and Murphy said there are still a lot of unknowns surrounding the project, such as whether the storage, electrical feeds and irrigation system currently housed under the structure could all be relocated.
However, the demolition likely won't happen this year, but rather once funding becomes available. Until then, the underside of the stadium will be closed off to employees and visitors for safety, and the bleachers will remain usable.
Though the stadium will be removed, the field is proposed to remain, allowing fast pitch players to still use it.
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