Atlantic City broke ground on its long-awaited Pop Lloyd Stadium renovation this week, with a nostalgic glance back and a promising look forward.
“We know it has been in disrepair for quite some time, but we are turning it back into the treasure it was once,” Mayor Marty Small said. “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.”
Highlights of the new and improved stadium include artificial navy blue turf — “Atlantic City’s signature color,” the mayor says — along with brand-new dugouts, locker rooms, bleachers, restrooms, lighting, fencing and a scoreboard.
The field will also transition into a sports complex, adding football, soccer, lacrosse, field hockey and other sports and activities to the lineup.
John Henry “Pop” Lloyd was considered the greatest shortstop in Negro League history, his 27-year career resulted in a .343 batting average and an eventual move to manager.
He spent his later years in Atlantic City, where he died in 1964.
But few remain who knew the near-mythical man.
Ron “The Godfather” Jordan recalled how the kids would sit and talk to “Pop” about baseball, listening to his stories.
It wasn’t until later that Jordan would realize the men that would come visit Lloyd in the city were “some of the all-time great Negro League baseball players.”
Bill Tweedle has some fun re-creating the mayor's "high choke" on the bat.Bill Tweedle also remembered “Pop,” and playing ball on the field bearing his name.
His mother would check to see if the light at the field was on at sundown, because then “she knew where we were at.”
“If the light wasn’t on, we had 10 minutes to get home,” he added. “We have so much history back here. It’s long overdue to bring it back.”
Creating history is the aim, explained Jarrod Barnes, the city’s director of Health and Human Services.
“Our goal and our task is to create more memories for this community,” he said.
Small, who played baseball at the stadium as a Little Leaguer, high-schooler and adult, said he first shared his vision for the field in 2019, just a month after becoming mayor.
When the city received $33.5 million from the American Rescue Plan, he “immediately earmarked money to make this day come to light,” he said Monday.
In February, the stadium was among the promises of youth- and senior-centric programs the mayor highlighted in his “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now” State of the City address in February.
“When we say the youth and seniors are our two most precious resources we mean it,” Small said. “We’re putting our money where our mouth is.”
Atlantic City-based Weatherby Construction Co. workers continue renovations.
