The Cove

Exterior of Coveleski Stadium, Aug-2006.

The seating bowl, as seen from the outfield berm.

The park is squeezed into an industrial district not far from downtown.

• Location: Railroad Avenue across from the train station, South Bend, Ind.
• Opened: 1988
• Home team: South Bend White Sox (1988-92), Silver Hawks (1993-present), Midwest League
• Capacity: 5,000

Chronological Tour: Stop 10

Rating: 3 baseballs

Entrance through one of the main portals leads you to an upper concourse. The seating bowl is below this concourse, while the concessions are all up on the concourse, allowing purchasers to watch the game as they order their food. The concourse is covered by a luxury box level. Behind home plate, the press box blocks the view from the concourse. Behind right field, trains roll into the city’s Union Station.

Sound familiar? This is how the majority of 1990s parks were constructed. “The Cove”, built in 1988, predates them and undoubtedly served as a model.

I visited this park in 1990, before it dawned on me that taking photos of ballparks would be a cool hobby. I got back in 2006, by which time the outfield berm was open to spectators and a party deck had been added down the first-base line.