Landscape Information
This Depression-era baseball park is situated in a natural amphitheater at the base of Draper Mountain. Perched on a level field created with fill from the burial of a tributary of nearby Peak Creek, the existing valley’s narrow cross-section gave the park its asymmetrical outfield featuring a short right field. Constructed in 1935 by the Civilian Conservation Corps, the park was dedicated to Pulaski’s mayor, Ernest Calfee. The park retains its original sandstone entranceway and a steel-canopied concrete grandstand along the third-base side of the field, both designed by local engineer Edgar H. Millirons. Historically used for high school sports, horse shows, and carnivals, the park has been utilized primarily for Minor League baseball since the 1970s.
In 1999 HOK was commissioned to implement improvements to the ball field to bring it into compliance with Professional Baseball Standards. The redesign included a first-base side grandstand featuring open-air corporate box suites and a public promenade, new construction of a concession stand, home dugout, and clubhouse, the upgrading of parking lots, and the replacement of the scoreboard. Additional box seating behind home plate added in 2009 increased the park’s capacity to 2,500. Today surrounded by a residential neighborhood, the park’s intimate site plan and amphitheater setting against the mountainous background allows neighborhood residents to watch games from their front yards. Calfee Park was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.