Skylands Park

The outside of Skylands Park, Aug-2001, designed to resemble a farm complex.

A fairly standard seating configuration is in place, with concessions under the stands.

The shape of a baseball mowed into the infield punctuates the bucolic setting.

• Location: County Road 565 near Route 206 and NJ 15, Augusta, N.J.
• Opened: 1994
• Home team: New Jersey Cardinals, New York-Penn League (1994-2005); Sussex Skyhawks, Can-Am League (2006-present)
• Capacity: 4,336

Chronological Tour: Stop 55

Rating: 3 baseballs

Delays in construction and financing meant the park almost failed to open on time, but the first pitch here was thrown in June 1994, on schedule. The park was not completed, however, until 1995.

The place looks something like a barn complex from the outside, reminding people that this is farm country. The giveaway is all the parking outside and the light stanchions inside.

The Cardinals won the New York-Penn League title in their first season here, prompting the club to designate its official location “94 Championship Place”. However, the steady stream of fans from the south and east slowed to a trickle in 1999 thanks to the arrival of several independent teams in North and Central Jersey. The saga ended in October 2005, when the owners of the Altoona Curve purchased the team and announced that it would move to a new facility in State College, Pa. The Cardinals thus became the first New Jersey team to leave the state or cease operations since the 1978 Jersey City Indians.

With the departure of the Cardinals leaving a void at Skylands Park, Larry Hall, of the New Jersey Jackals of the independent Can-Am League, negotiated a lease to start a new franchise in that loop and have it play in Sussex County starting in 2006. It was not the first independent ball at Skylands: the Newark Bears of the Atlantic League played 21 games here in 1999 while awaiting their own new park.