Straight ahead, you'll spot the wide, multi-level Lawrence-Dumont Stadium, with its broad red-striped roof and towering light poles reaching into the sky, sitting just beyond the empty parking lot and next to a patch of green grass.
Imagine standing here on a warm summer night, the cool breeze carrying the scent of popcorn and freshly mown grass as the crowd roars with excitement. Lawrence-Dumont Stadium has seen countless legendary moments and a few too many sunburned noses. Nestled on the west bank of the Arkansas River, this spot once echoed with the crack of bats and chants from 6,400 fans, all packed into the heart of the Delano neighborhood. But baseball here didn’t begin with this stadium-it bounced around Wichita for years, with Island Park stadium sitting atop what was once Ackerman Island before both the field and the island were swept away to widen the river.
The field itself was a product of grit and hope. In the darkest years of the Great Depression, Charles S. Lawrence-Wichita’s mayor and a man with more tenacity than a baseball stuck in a glove-campaigned to relocate and build a new stadium at “Payne’s Pasture.” He never saw opening day, but the city honored him by stamping his name above the entry. And almost immediately, the place buzzed with energy. Ray “Hap” Dumont spiced things up: he was so determined to make the National Baseball Congress World Series a hit that he paid the legendary Satchel Paige $1,000-a small fortune at the time-to pitch in the very first tournament.
This place didn’t just host baseball, either. In the 1940s, it switched gears and packed in 12,500 fans for football, with the Wichita Aero Commandos leaving their marks on the field-and probably a few muddy footprints in the stands. Even the College World Series once made a stop here, the last before Omaha became its permanent home.
Through the decades, the stadium got facelifts- fresh paint, upgraded turf, fancier lights-all so more teams, from the Wichita Wranglers to the Wingnuts, could keep swinging. But nothing lasts forever. After decades of hustle and home runs, the stadium was taken down in 2018. Today, Equity Bank Park has taken its place, but for years, Lawrence-Dumont was the diamond where baseball dreams came alive and bats never seemed to sit still. Sometimes, I think a few old fans still cheer on breezy nights-just out of habit.
