Zoo to memorialize Rosenblatt

Johnny Rosenblatt family members and people who live in the Rosenblatt Stadium neighborhood are pleased that a version of the beloved baseball diamond will continue to shine at the South Omaha site.

Steve Rosenblatt, son of the former Omaha mayor and ballplayer whose name is on the 62-year-old stadium, said the family thinks the Henry Doorly Zoo and the City of Omaha have successfully created a remembrance for his family, for the fans and for players past and present.

“I feel thrilled that this opportunity has been presented to us,” he said.

City Council President Garry Gernandt, who grew up in and now represents the neighborhood, initially opposed demolishing Rosenblatt and building a new downtown stadium for the College World Series.

But he joined officials from the city and the zoo on Thursday for the unveiling of the zoo's plan to remember Rosenblatt, Part II of the new zoo plans.

The zoo last week unveiled its $174 million master plan, which calls for multiple new exhibits that group animals in more natural surroundings. The exhibits and a revamped entrance would push across a to-be-closed 10th Street, but the bulk of the 32-acre stadium site would become parking.

Though it “will be a sad day when Rosenblatt meets its demise,” Gernandt said, the zoo plan is a “jaw dropper.”

It takes into consideration what he and some longtime residents hoped to see, Gernandt said, a place that respectfully recalls what went before.

The Infield at the Zoo will be a 90-foot-by-90-foot green space located in what will become mostly parking after the stadium is razed.

The space will feature a replica of Rosenblatt's familiar blue peaked roof as well as its infield, cut down to Little League size. The base paths from base to base will be 60 feet rather than the current 90 feet.

But home plate will sit exactly where home plate is today.

Neighbor Steve Van Haitsma said he is happy about everything he has heard so far.

Van Haitsma, who lives just south of the zoo and has been a fan of the CWS at Rosenblatt, said he thinks the changes, including the loss of Rosenblatt, will be good for the neighborhood. It will bring new business and development to the area and make it a “9 to 5 place” to live, he said.

“One good thing: We get our neighborhood back,” he said.

Mayor Jim Suttle said the transition will be bittersweet.

“We will cherish the tradition as we move forward,” he said. “One icon will be incorporated into another.”

Kids of all ages will be able to run the bases, sit in field-level dugouts or while away the time in some of the blue, yellow and red Rosenblatt seats set up in the “outfield.” Behind the dugouts will be picnic areas, and the entire site will be surrounded by grass and trees.

The stadium's foul poles will be retained where they are, which will put them in parking areas.

“We tried to capture and preserve Rosenblatt,” said Dave Ciaccio, the landscape architect with Community ReDesigned who designed the new space.

Up in the air right now, said Dennis Pate, executive director and CEO of the zoo, is how historical information or memorabilia can be displayed at the site.

The Infield at the Zoo will cost about $330,000, and it will not be built until the zoo has raised the estimated $2 million to $3 million needed to raze the stadium, Pate said. No public funds will be used.

“The process has been good so far,” Steve Rosenblatt said. “Now we have to make it a reality.”

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