1 week Ago By Andrew Lwowski [email protected]
A disagreement between Lower Columbia College and the collegiate summer baseball team that has called the facility home for more than a decade is leaving the community college on the hook for an estimated $5.6 million in renovations at Story Field without any state funds and has extended the construction timeline. The contract between the Cowlitz County Black Bears and the school has been severed over their disagreements to update Story Field, with the Black Bears looking for a new home and the college continuing its vision for the site, which includes more seats and updated lights, as well as possible ads along the fence and a new field name based on a donor.
The Story Field upgrades are tentatively planned for completion in early 2027 and has been split into two phases ; lighting and the grandstands. Both will be fully funded by Lower Columbia with no state funds due to a termination provision in the lease agreement with the Cowlitz County Black Bears. As a result, the $1.
3 million allocated from Washington State Department of Commerce in 2023 was returned to the state, and the college’s foundation is funding the project. Lighting will be phase one of the two-part project to renovate Story Field in Longview. Shot Thursday, April 17 in Longview.
The Black Bears belong to the West Coast League, a collegiate wood bat league with teams in Washington, Oregon, British Columbia and Alberta. The season is 54 games and stretches from early June through mid-August. The Black Bears have called Longview home for the past 15 years.
Black Bears owner Tony Bonacci said the lease was a contingent-use agreement; because both parties didn’t agree to the Story Field renovations, it triggered a termination. “It actually wasn’t a Black Bears decision,” he said. Bonacci said the Black Bears sought updates “that the team identified as improving fan experience,” like adding more seats along the first and third base lines, and updating concessions.
But LCC officials have slightly different ideas, such as prioritizing lighting and updating the roughly four-decade-old wooden seats and changing seating behind home plate. The current state of Story Field’s seating is rough — physically and figuratively. The stadium is 60 years old and the bleachers date back to the 1980s, demanding year-round attention and costly repairs due to rotten wood.
The future of Story Field, which will also receive a new name pending a proper donor, is bright. Lower Columbia Vice President of Administration Nolan Wheeler said the park is swinging for a major-league feel with a concrete grandstand structure, new lighting and additional and improved seating, but will retain its charm. He added the idea is to have a section of covered seating behind home plate and install fold-down seats, like ones you’d find at big-league ballparks.
Current seating capacity at Story Field is 425, and expanded seating along the first-base sideline will allow between 500 to 600 occupants. An additional restroom will also be added to keep folks in the ballpark as there are currently two located at the concession stand with the other being exterior access to the library restroom. He said details will be finalized in the fall, after architects sketch out plans and construction goes to bid, with tentative plans to start work in June after the school’s baseball season ends.
The grandstands and press box at Story Field, home of Lower Columbia baseball, will begin renovations starting in 2026. Shot on Thursday, April 17 in Longview. With the termination of the Black Bears’ contract, Lower Columbia is able to construct the renovations on its own time table.
The construction of the lights will begin in August after the Black Bears’ season with hopes it is completed by the start of the Red Devils season in February. A bid for the lighting will be going to bid next week, with hopes a contractor is signed by May, Wheeler added. After the 2026 Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament, which is hosted by Lower Columbia, the construction of the grandstands and accompanying press box will begin.
The lighting is estimated to cost roughly $1.3 million, says Wheeler, while the grandstands will cost around $4.3 million.
Wheeler said the college’s board will review requesting a certificate of participation, a lease-purchase program through the state which the school would pay back over time. The program offers Washington State Agencies a cost-effective way to finance equipment purchases, including construction of new facilities, according to the state treasurer’s office. Wheeler says the hope is it is approved when the state does its next supplemental capital, likely in March 2026.
In order to cover the expenses, the college plans to run sponsorships for the facility — like naming rights — and signage along the field, which currently belongs to the Black Bears as part of the lease agreement. The softball facility is also receiving a makeover, with renovations including batting cages and a training facility already underway. The college matched the $700,000 from the state Department of Commerce to bring a $1.
4 million practice facility for the Red Devils softball team who had been using Kelso High’s facilities . Wheeler says the softball renovations began in March and are expected to be done by November. Currently, the plumbing has been torn up and the school is waiting for soil compaction testing before adding concrete.
Meanwhile at Northlake field, home of the Red Devils soccer, upgrades to team signage along with fencing was updated and the area for spectators was moved closer to the field for better view of the action. Wheeler says he and the college are excited for the softball and baseball programs to have space that they can call their own. Editor's Note: This story has been updated will additional information.
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