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Wade Stadium is a baseball park located near the intersection of Grand Avenue and 34th Avenue West in the West Duluth neighborhood of Duluth, Minnesota. The stadium was built in 1941 and holds 4,200 people. It is the home of the Duluth Huskies of the Northwoods League. "The Wade," as it is sometimes called by fans, was also the home of the Duluth-Superior Dukes of the reincarnated Northern League from 1993 until 2002, and the home of Dukes of the original Northern League from 1941 until 1970. One of a dying breed of Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed stadiums, "The Wade" is noted for its short distances (especially from home plate to center field), its high fences, and the cool, damp weather generated by nearby Lake Superior. ==History== During the Great Depression, the U.S. federal government used the WPA to fund projects to boost employment. One of these projects was the removal of the brick roadbed from Grand Avenue, which was then paved with asphalt. During the fall of 1940, road crews removed 381,000 bricks from the surface of Grand Avenue.〔Duluth Huskies website, accessed 23 July 2009.〕 Another WPA crew used these bricks to build Wade Stadium. The decision to build Wade Stadium originated with a 1938 study commissioned by Walter Chantigney, chairman of Duluth's Citywide All-Sports committee. The study found that the Duluth Duke's existing stadium, Athletic Park,〔Now known as Wheeler Athletic Complex.〕 was obsolete. According to the study: Chantigney gathered more than 7,500 signatures to place a construction bond measure on the November, 1938, ballot. After voters approved the bond measure, money was gathered over the next two years from bond sales, the state of Minnesota, and the WPA. The site selected for the new stadium was located directly across Grand Avenue from Athletic Park. A construction budget totaling $163,232 was set. But, due to cost overruns, the final cost of the stadium was $230,880. During construction, the project received several bailouts. One bailout came from Duluth's newly elected mayor, Edward H. Hatch, who purchased the materials needed to finish construction. The stadium's original name was Duluth All-Sports Municipal Stadium. It was renamed Wade Municipal Stadium in 1954 in honor of former Duluth Dukes owner Frank Wade, who died in 1953.〔 http://zenithcity.com/frank-wades-legacy-beyond-the-brick-walls/〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Wade Stadium」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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