An underutilized athletic facility named after a Baseball Hall of Famer will be getting a facelift that will create new recreational programs in Atlantic City.
Recently, Atlantic City Mayor Small, Sr. and other dignitaries celebrated the beginning of a $5.6 million renovation project at Pop Lloyd Stadium. Situated along Absecon Boulevard, the facility will be transitioning from solely a baseball field into a multipurpose sports hub for Atlantic City youth and the entire community.
Pop Lloyd Stadium was built in the late 1940s and named after the legendary John Henry “Pop” Lloyd. The iconic ballplayer grew up in Atlantic City and starred in the Negro Leagues, later acting as a player-coach for the semiprofessional Atlantic City Johnson Stars until 1942.
Lloyd passed away in 1964 in his hometown and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977. He is considered by many to be the finest shortstop in the history of the Negro Leagues, retiring with a .343 batting average.
Highlights of the new and improved stadium that bears his name include new artificial blue turf and revamped dugouts. New locker rooms, bleachers, restrooms, lighting, fencing and a scoreboard will all be installed as part of the work.
In addition to baseball, softball and T-ball, the new Pop Lloyd Stadium will be utilized for football, soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, and other sports and activities. Pergolas will be added to the facility, with the work being undertaken by Atlantic City-based Weatherby Construction Company.
“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 Small. “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,” Small added.
The stadium has been abandoned to some extent since the 1990’s and is on track to be active once again in the coming months. Construction on the renovation project is anticipated to conclude this fall and the city plans to begin fully utilizing the new Pop Lloyd Stadium in time for the start of the Spring 2025 sports season.
$4 million of the funding for the project comes from federal level via the American Rescue Plan plus $1 million from the 2022 Supplemental Transitional Aid. New Jersey also approved an additional $601,450 of ARP funding.
