Memorial Stadium is the home of the Boise Hawks, a minor league affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. Construction was begun in 1988 and while it was being built, the hawks played at Bill Wigle Field at Borah High School. Upon completion in the later part of 1989, the Hawks began playing immediately after. Centered in Garden City, the stadium acts as a pass time for a large number of baseball fans spanning from Nampa, Eagle, and Star all the way to East Boise and Idaho City.
The stands in the stadium hold 4,500 people, making for a decent audience for home games and tournaments. High school state baseball tournaments are held at Memorial Stadium including the 2010 championship where the Timberline Wolves, despite being the underdog to an almost completely senior dominated Centennial Patriots team, came up with the three to one victory and the state title for 2010.
Upon entering the stadium, a massive poster saying, “Welcome to Hawkstown U.S.A.” greets every fan. Immediately, one gets the feeling of a classy, yet humble hometown baseball team. The old sun faded fold down seats along the third base side and behind home plate give the image of modesty and ware. The metal bleachers along the first base side often offer the best view of the game, though rarely do people watch from there due to the temperature of the sun roasted metal bleachers. In far right field is the ever so famous kids’ corner. It features a mini-baseball field perfectly sized for kids ages five to eight to play wiffle ball on. Just behind the wiffle ball field is the bounce house and inflatable obstacle course for the older and more competitive kids. There is also a radar gun to show how fast someone can throw a baseball or football. On the other side of the field past the seats in left is the Hawks Nest. Two massive white tents cover this area and hundreds of plastic lawn chairs lay around plenty of tables. This is usually the place for the older people as well as young adults because it is where the alcohol vendor is. It serves as a cool seating area as well as a place for socializing to become easy.
Food choices within the stadium include Dontrelle’s Delight with its famous ice cream filled cookie and mini-helmets filled with ice cream. Kotchman’s kitchen is immediately to the right of Dontrelle’s Delight and is a hamburger, hotdog, nacho, and soda/beer vendor. Lines are often very long at these two places because they are closest to the seating. In the Hawks Nest is the alcohol vendor as well as the home of the famous Boise Hawks nacho dish. This includes jalapeños, olives, salsa, guacamole, nachos, sour cream, cheese sauce, and ground beef. It is easily the crowd favorite. Near right field is yet another desert stand. It serves waffle cone ice cream, cotton candy, and ice cream sandwiches. They also serve gigantic soft serve ice cream cones that are near a foot tall.
Walking through an opening in the dugouts, there is a short stairway leading to a door labeled “Players Only”. Upon entering this door, you immediately know that it is the locker room. In the locker room there are 40 open lockers with no doors, two sinks, two showers, a weigh scale, and a small corner for the rest rooms. They also have hazardous waste buckets for used razors and other contaminated things. Painted on the all white walls in the main locker area is a red banner that shows the years the Hawks won the North West League Championship, 2002 and 2004.
As years go on, there are continuous needs for repair and change in the facility. Which is why there are very limited years left in Memorial Stadium. The construction of a new stadium in the Meridian/Nampa area is about to be under way and it will be the new home of the Boise Hawks. Memorial Stadium will continue to be used by High Schools and Legion baseball teams for tournaments but will rarely be used by the Hawks for games.