Jackie Robinson Ballpark

Entrance to the former City Island Ballpark, Aug-2003.

Most of the seating bowl.

The Halifax River is visible, along with the new Route 92 bridge that spans it.

• Location: City Island and Orange avenues, Daytona Beach, Fla.
• Opened: 1930 as City Island Ballpark (renovated 2000)
• Additional names: Jackie Robinson Ballpark (1988)
• Home team: Daytona Beach Islanders (1935-41, 1946-66, 1977, 1985-86), Dodgers (1968-73), Astros (1978-84), Admirals (1987), Daytona Cubs (1993-present), Florida State League; spring training, St. Louis Cardinals (1937), Brooklyn Dodgers (1946), Baltimore Orioles (1955), Montréal Expos (1973-80)
• Capacity: 4,000

Rating: 4 baseballs

Jackie and local boys, circa 1946.

The home plate and first base covered grandstand did have to be replaced here after Hurricane Floyd hit in 1999, but the reconstruction was to similar specifications to what came before. The third-base side bleacher has aluminum benches. For day games, the covered roof comes in handy, but for night games, ironically the bleachers are the best seats in the house, as the sun comes streaming into the first-base stand before it sets.

The park was named after Jackie Robinson in 1988 and a statue of him and two local boys sits just outside the main gate. Robinson had been denied the opportunity to play ball in several Florida cities during 1946 spring training with the Dodgers, but he was finally able to play a game here on St. Patrick’s Day in what was then known as City Island Ballpark.

City Island, one of two in the nation that hosts a ball field (the other is in Harrisburg), also contains the Volusia County courthouse and the public library, as well as a marina. The island itself is in the Halifax River.