By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current

ROCKFORD — City Council members on Monday gave approval for a $10 million International Women’s Baseball Center museum to be built at Beyer Park.

It’s a proposal that has divided former partners — namely the Friends of Beyer preservation group and the IWBC — over the location of the museum on roughly an acre of land on the north end of Beyer Park near the historic ticket booth. The proposal has also drawn objections from the Rockford Starfires women’s baseball team, which plays on the field.

Friends of Beyer fought to preserve that acre in order to maintain the legacy of women’s baseball and the home of the Rockford Peaches. The IWBC argued that building on the north end of Beyer will not harm the historic integrity of the ticket booth or limestone steps that lead to the park, nor will it prevent baseball from being played on the field.

City Council members lamented that the matter arrived at their desks with division among groups of supporters of women’s baseball. However, several of those who voted in favor said it was their duty to treat the matter as a zoning issue rather than decide whether the north end of Beyer was the appropriate location for the museum. That matter, they argued, rests with the Rockford Park District, which owns the property.

The final vote was 12-2, with City Council members Linda McNeely and Tuffy Quinonez voting against.

“It is troubling to see something that’s so good for Rockford to come to the City Council with so much turmoil,” said Alderman Tim Durkee, a 1st Ward Republican who ultimately voted in favor of the proposal.

The Friends of Beyer spent years working to preserve and restore the former stadium, which was home to the Rockford Peaches of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from 1943 to 1954.

“My plea to the Friends of Beyer, wherever that thing goes, please don’t stop your good work,” Durkee said. “Find a way to reconcile, and however this project goes let’s get everybody back on board and make this thing great.”

The IWBC initially planned to build the museum on property across from Beyer Stadium along Seminary Street. That land was donated by J&M Plating and on-site demolition was paid for by Winnebago County. However, museum representatives said their plans evolved over time as they looked for ways to better engage the community in their project. Now an activities center with indoor batting cages and practice space is planned for the land on Seminary Street.

“Through partnership with local high school and college baseball teams, we will support the expansion of the game through a space for play,” Kat Williams, president of the IWBC, said in a letter to City Council members. “We will inspire the next generation of players by helping them realize their dreams.”

Williams said that the only way to build the activity center is to use other land for the museum and education center.

“You aren’t honoring the women who played there by reshaping the field they played on,” Andrew Wright, a member of the Friends of Beyer, told City Council members during public comment Monday. “Selling the acre for construction will forever change how that field is used. Every encroachment, from Beyer School to the widening of Seminary, has caused Friends of Beyer to make concessions and lose a little piece of the history we fought so hard to protect.”

McNeely, a 13th Ward Democrat, said she could not simply treat the matter as a zoning issue, as other aldermen had suggested. She said her no vote was in support of the Friends of Beyer.

Alderman Mark Bonne, a Democrat from the 14th Ward, said the proposal likely could not easily endure further delay.

“At the end of the day we’re faced with a zoning decision. Is the museum an acceptable land use under our ordinance?” Bonne said. “The decision to sell the land for that purpose, however, rests with the Park District, and that’s where the public pressure should continue to be applied.”

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas.