North Little Rock mayor Patrick Hays and longtime general manager of the Arkansas Travelers Bill Valentine are ready to play ball at the new Dickey-Stephens ballpark. Change font size

One of central Arkansas’ oldest warm-weather attractions is set to become its newest, as construction crews put the finishing touches on Dickey-Stephens Park.

Meanwhile its future tenants, the Double-A Arkansas Travelers ball club, is packing up the remnants of 75-year-old Ray Winder Field, the historic midtown Little Rock diamond with an undecided future, to slide into its nearly $40 million home on the North Little Rock riverfront in time for opening day April 12.

“There was a lot of talk about leaving history behind at Ray Winder and understandably so,” said Bill Valentine, the Travelers’ longtime general manager. “All of that is erased when you step foot [in Dickey-Stephens Park], and I think the fans will agree. It’s time for a new era and it begins with the completion of one of the best ballparks in the country.”

The rebirth is contagious, evident by the playful tones exuded by representatives of the three entities that made it happen — the Travelers, the city of North Little Rock and the Stephens family — as they toured the park last week.

(Click the photo gallery icon above to see pictures of the tour by photographer Mike Pirnique.)

“This is like a dream come true,” said North Little Rock Mayor Pat Hays, as a game of catch broke out with Valentine on the freshly installed grass. “The lights of this park alone will be a magnet for tourism and community togetherness. This far exceeds what we had originally envisioned.”

Little Rock financier Warren Stephens, who donated 11 riverfront acres for the project and has also pitched in with a first-class $1.2 million scoreboard, can look down from the Stephens Building’s board room windows onto the project bearing the name of his uncle, Witt, and father, Jack, along with former Major Leaguers George and Bill Dickey.

“We can’t quite see down into all parts of the stadium, but there’s no doubt the view from up there has gotten a lot of attention from those interested in the project,” said Frank Thomas, a spokesman for Stephens Inc. who also toured the ballpark last week. “I think people will turn to this project as the standard for Minor League parks across the country.”

In With the New

One of the few things Dickey-Stephens has in common with its archaic — yet beloved — predecessor is the intimacy it provides baseball fans.

“There isn’t one seat in here that’s higher or farther away from the field than Ray Winder,” said Pete Laven, assistant general manager for the Travs. “It was important for us to keep that intimacy and work that into the design however we could.”

There are 5,800 fixed seats at Dickey- Stephens, compared with 6,083 at Ray Winder, but outfield grass berm seating and friendlier standing-room-only platforms and nooks will comfortably provide for at least 2,000 more. Laven said the new park could probably squeeze in 10,000 if necessary.

There are also several areas available for private group rentals, including a pair of outdoor picnic areas, a party deck extension from the skyboxes on the first-base line and an indoor “Dickey Room” that will provide climate-controlled seating.

Bleacher bums will also notice an upgrade as there’s a beer garden with picnic seating behind the first-base bleacher section, which will be the only smoking area in the park. The famous bleachers at Ray Winder Field were along the third-base line.

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