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A groundbreaking ceremony was held on Monday, June 17 for the $5.6 million renovation to Pop Lloyd Stadium. The project will make the stadium playable for baseball, softball, T-ball, football, soccer, lacrosse, and field hockey, as well as other sports and activities.
The renovations include adding blue artificial turf, along with new dugouts, locker rooms, bleachers, restrooms, lighting, fencing, and a scoreboard.
"Pop Lloyd Stadium has been in disrepair for quite some time, but we are turning it back into the treasure it was once," said Mayor Marty Small Sr. in a news release. "My vision is to not only keep the integrity of this historic baseball field, which is a fabric of Atlantic City’s past, but to turn it into a multisport complex our future generations can enjoy for decades to come.
"It takes a village to get a project like this off the ground, and a lot of individuals within our city departments stepped up to make sure my vision comes to light."
The city is paying for most of the project with $4 million from the American Rescue Plan and the state approved an additional $601,450 of ARP funding. The city will also use $1 million from the state's supplemental transitional aid.
Construction is expected to finish in the fall with the stadium open for the spring 2025 sports season.
"This project will create new opportunities for Atlantic City youth and adults, while exposing our youth to new sports," city recreation director Mike Griffin said. "We want to bring back the experience I had as a kid in Atlantic City of when you walk by Pop Lloyd Stadium, something was always happening.
"Atlantic City recreation saved my life when I was younger, and this new field will go a long way in making sure we can have a similar impact on today’s youth."
The stadium is named after John Henry "Pop" Lloyd, who played for Atlantic City's team in the Negro Leagues called the Bacharach Giants.
"Lloyd’s skills as a batter, base runner and defensive infielder might have helped him to dominate the majors," said records from the Richard E. Bjork Library at Stockton University. "However, he wasn't provided the opportunity due to racial discrimination."
The baseball field was built in the 1940s at the corner of North Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Huron Avenue. After his pro career, Lloyd lived in the city until his death in 1964.
Lloyd was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977 and was considered one of the best shortstops in Negro Leagues history.
"In a time when pitchers dominated the game, Lloyd found a way to score runs," his hall of fame biography said. "With a great eye for the ball and fantastic bat control, he could drop in hits and bunt with precision. His play also translated to the basepaths and led to many stolen bases.
"Not only was he known to be the best at fielding his position during his era, but he was also a top run producer for his teams."
The John Henry "Pop" Lloyd Committee was established in 1992 to honor his legacy.
"Pop Lloyd Stadium has been abandoned to some extent since the 1990’s, and my department was charged with helping to bring it back to life," said city planning and development director Jacques Howard. "Maintaining the legacy of this field, which has become iconic to Atlantic City, is our mission, and we were elated to find out, through a study, the structure of this facility could be preserved."
Weatherby Construction Company is the contractor for the renovation.
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