Letter to the Editor: Field of Dreams

The West Side of Sturgeon Bay’s iconic West Side Baseball Field; no other field like it exists in N.E. Wisconsin and perhaps the state of Wisconsin. Families can sit on a gentle hill side, munch goodies and watch games as they did in bygone times. Leagues and kids play ball there. I moved back here 34 years ago and for that entire time the city of Sturgeon Bay has zealously guarded that field, realizing its uniqueness and contribution to the serene setting that is Sturgeon Bay’s West Side. As tourists exit the highway onto Green Bay Road, they sweep around a curve and a panorama of the West side, Sturgeon Bay, the Bay of Sturgeon Bay and the Bay of Green Bay opens before them. It is without question Sturgeon Bay’s most beautiful and spectacular entry. 

Along side that panoramic entry and a part of the West Side’s history, sits the West Side School. There since 1934 and the last school of its type in Sturgeon Bay, the West Side Field adjoins the school property on its south boundary. Enter a developer who either owns or is purchasing the school and on this most spectacular, serene and beautiful entry to town, wants to put a low-income, 40-unit housing development. Insanity. That project can be built outside of Sturgeon Bay on land far more suitable for low-income housing. 

Nor is this the first “hit” the beleaguered field has taken. Several disastrous years ago the city allowed a skate park to go on a portion of the field’s parking area, even donating the land. No engineering was done and a dangerous, blind corner created. Now a low-income development is proposed on this most scenic entry into Sturgeon Bay. Wake up Sturgeon Bay! Ditch the worthless Granary, support the beautiful West Side Field. The Granary is a financial drain and contributes nothing to the town, the ball field everything. That ball field is indeed, a “Field Of Dreams.” 

Ken Mac Donald 

Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin