Loggers Re-Investing with Event Center Mindset
La Crosse, Wis. – The La Crosse Loggers front office, sporting hard hats and surrounded by supporters, announced Thursday that work has officially begun on their proposed $900,000 upgrade to Copeland Park.
With piles of rubble behind them from the beginning stages of demolition, Loggers officials proclaimed that their latest Copeland Park enhancement project will be completed in time for the start of the 2017 season, their fifteenth in La Crosse. This latest project, which will bring total expenditures on Copeland Park near the $3 million mark since the Loggers inception in 2003, will feature an entirely new building that will house the Window World Ticket Office, the P & P Products Pro Shop, the Gerhard’s 1st Supply restrooms and an additional concession building. Furthermore, fans will enter through the new Coverra Insurance Services Courtyard Entrance that will also feature home plate pavers embedded in the entrance walkway commemorating the individuals who have been inducted into the La Crosse Area Baseball Hall of Fame.
The latest enhancement to La Crosse’s home for baseball will be the largest in a long line of improvements the Loggers organization has been making since their inaugural season of 2003. Out of the nearly $3 million in investments into the city-owned Copeland Park, the Loggers have personally been responsible for over $2.3 million. The other nearly $700,000 came from donations including an initial grant from the Corrine Zielke Fund that contributed $300,000 towards the construction of the main, covered grandstand back in 2003. The La Crosse Community Foundation also contributed $70,000 towards the installation of the new lights in 2008 and in the fall of 2013 Dave and Barb Skogen donated $320,000 towards the installation of the AstroTurf infield and new dugouts as part of the partnership formed between the Loggers and the UWL Baseball program.
The new entrance and building that will house the new ticket office, pro shop, restrooms and expanded concessions is being constructed by Borton Construction and is expected to be complete in time for the Loggers to celebrate their 15-year anniversary season in 2017. As the organization celebrates 15 years in La Crosse they will also be ringing in a new era as team officials declared that they will be marketing their Northside home as Copeland Park and Event Center. Spurred on by the upgrades, the Loggers front office will be looking to continue to build upon not only baseball events at Copeland Park but also expand the opportunities that the facility has to offer to other events and users. In recent years, the Loggers have hosted such successful events as WingFest, AquinasFest, Wisconsin’s first sanctioned outdoor MMA fight, the Oktobefest Parade Marshalls announcement, retirement parties, graduation parties, family movie nights, corporate gatherings and more. The Loggers expect that trend to continue as they want the public to know that Copeland Park, and all of its amenities, are a great place to host events that enrich the La Crosse community. Parties that are interested in booking an event at the newly renovated Copeland Park & Event Center can find more information at www.lacrosseloggers.com or by calling the Loggers business office at 608-796-9553.
The La Crosse Loggers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The 23-year-old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 160 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (CHC). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.lacrosseloggers.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Loggers as your favorite team.