Stadelman pitches in $400,000 in state funds for museum project, hoping to bag new women's baseball league games

State Senator Steve Stadelman announced this week that he's commiting $400,000 in state funds to redevelop Beyer Field -- home of the legendary Rockford Peaches -- in an attempt to attract the inaugural games of a new professional women's baseball league.
The state funds will help pay for a scoreboard, press box, lighting and other minimum upgrades required for league play. Stadelman's contribution pushes fundraising efforts over the $1 million mark toward the $5 million first phase of International Women's Baseball Center, which focuses on the historic stadium where the Peaches competed from 1943 to 1954.

“Given the rich history of the Rockford Peaches, attracting these inaugural games to Beyer Field is an opportunity not to be passed up. I want to help make the improvements necessary to accommodate women’s professional baseball sooner rather than later,” Stadelman said during a news conference at Beyer's home plate. “Having this world-class sports event occur on the Peaches home field will serve as an example of the economic catalyst that’s possible when the museum is fully developed.”

The new league's first games are expected to be played in May 2026. Plans are for the second and third phases of the IWBC to include an indoor sports facility and women's baseball museum designed by acclaimed architect Jeanne Gang, a Belvidere native, for an estimated cost of another $26 million.

Read more: Senator Stadelman's Weekly Bulletin - May 2, 2025