Doenges Stadium
Built in 1930; transferred to the district in 2016
The city has not had its own baseball team for many years, but the Bill Doenges Memorial Stadium has long been the home of the Bartlesville Bruins baseball team. It has also been the home of the local American Legion Baseball Program and other area teams. The Stadium twice hosted the American Legion World Series, in 2003 and 2007, and for several years has hosted the Sandy Koufax World Series of the American Amateur Baseball Congress.
Early Baseball in Bartlesville
Bartlesville has been a baseball town since its first team, the Brickbats, formed in 1895. The early-day teams had a community ballpark with a roofed grandstand for 500 spectators at what was the south end of the city near Johnstone Avenue and 11th Street. That park was quickly abandoned for a new stadium just south of there, which hosted 53 home games for the Bartlesville Grays. In 1907 the city purchased land just north of the city limits from William Johnstone - the site of present-day Doenges Stadium.
Memorial Stadium
The wooden grandstand was replaced by today's roofed concrete facility via a $42,000 bond issue in 1930. It was dedicated as Municipal Athletic Field on May 2, 1932, and besides baseball games has hosted parades, rodeos, celebrations, and revivals. It even served as the high school football field until Custer Field was built in the early 1950s at College High School.
Contractor James H. Hamilton built the stadium and concrete fence. The stadium was known as the only professional ballpark in the world with the same distance (340 feet) to the fence anywhere in fair territory, although today the home plate has moved so the field is no longer fully symmetrical.
Doenges Stadium
In 1997 the Bartlesville Municipal Athletic Field was renamed Bill Doenges Memorial Stadium in appreciation of nearly 60 years of support provided by local car dealer Bill Doenges to the American Legion baseball program, with the Doenges Ford Injuns teams, which were later renamed the Doenges Indians.
Part of the agreement between the city and the school district is that the city would have to be consulted before the stadium's name could be changed or any significant changes made to its façade.
Transfer
In June 2016 the City of Bartlesville and the school district approved the transfer of the Bill Doenges Memorial Stadium from the city to the district. That allowed the district to sell the ad space at the stadium and utilize the proceeds and bond issues to maintain and enhance the treasured and historic facility.
Improvements
A 2016 bond issue funded the repair of the roof, repairing the ceiling, flooring, and finishes in the pressbox, and refurbishing the locker rooms. The HVAC systems were replaced and the stand joints resealed.
In 2019, the district awarded $569,400 to General Sports Surfaces to install artificial turf on the infield at the stadium as well as at the softball field west of Madison Middle School.
Rigdon Field
On March 30, 2021 Rigdon Field at Doenges Memorial Stadium was dedicated in honor of Spence Rigdon, the district's former Athletics & Activities Director and longtime baseball coach, who passed away in November 2019.
In 2022, the stadium facade was repainted and the old indoor practice building was replaced with a new building that accommodates four pitching machines. That building and another across town for softball and golf between Hoover Elementary and Madison Middle School (the latter being originally Sooner High) together cost $590,938.
Bill Doenges sponsored American Legion baseball
Home plate at Rigdon Field
Rigdon Field infield turf
Spence Rigdon
Rigdon family at the 2021 dedication
Indoor Practice Facility Exterior
Indoor Practice Facility Interior
District History Pages
Doenges Stadium