‘Field of Dreams’ complex to be expanded

DYERSVILLE, Iowa — The shooting location for the iconic film “Field of Dreams” is getting an $80 million expansion.

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The site’s new owners are making it more than just a movie set. It will be a destination for youth baseball and softball teams when the project is done.

Nine new fields, along with dormitories for teams and a hotel, are expected to be built in Dyersville, Iowa, by the end of 2023, KCRG reported.

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After the first phase is done, a second phase will have a new 100,000-square-foot fieldhouse, an amphitheater, an RV park, a disability-inclusive park and trails through the cornfields made famous in the 1989 film. Those projects are expected to be completed by the end of 2025.

The new development was the brainchild of the group Go the Distance Baseball LLC, which was bought last year by This is Heaven LLC, led by MLB Hall of Famer Frank Thomas.

The expansion will add nearly 100 acres to the site, but the original features will remain intact. The group said its goal is to “create a youth baseball and softball oasis, while maintaining the property as a working farm, amid the natural beauty of the rural Iowa landscape,” KWWL reported.

The construction will create hundreds of new jobs as it begins. Once the project is done, the new sports complex will add 170 new full-time positions and an estimated $25 million in direct spending annually.

Last August marked the first MLB game played at the Iowa site and the league plans to be back this year and in the future, KWWL reported.

This year’s game will be played on Aug. 11 between the Cubs and Reds.

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