Camden stadium to make way for Rutgers complex, report says

CAMDEN — A local Congressman said that he believes a baseball stadium once considered a linchpin for the redevelopment of the Camden waterfront will be demolished.

George Norcross said Tuesday that the 6,700-seat Campbell's Field will be demolished "in the not-too-distant future." The stadium has been mostly unused since the Camden Riversharks independent league baseball team folded in 2015.

The Courier Post reported Norcross also said the demolished stadium will make way for new athletic fields for Rutgers University, which now uses the stadium for its baseball team.

"You're going to see, in the not-too-distant future, that stadium demolished and in its place will be world-class athletic fields for Rutgers University in Camden and the public schools system and the renaissance schools in Camden, so they will have world-class athletic facilities to utilize," Norcross said.

Camden County spokesman Dan Keashen said the county can't comment on the facility's future because the county remains in deliberations with a prospective buyer, but added the stadium is still in operation.

"The second construction phase of a $1 billion project along the waterfront is ongoing adjacent to the site and will add to the value of the property as it evolves over the next two years." Keashen said of a project being developed by Liberty Property Trust to bring office, retail and housing there.

The Riversharks stopped play when they couldn't reach a deal to stay at Campbell's Field after Camden County purchased it to save it from foreclosure in 2015.

County officials have been working since to bring a minor league team affiliated with Major League Baseball to Camden since then, but the county is responsible for maintaining it.

Camden County bought the stadium for $3.5 million, while a transit agency and New Jersey's economic development agency have forgiven millions in public loans used to help build it in 2001.

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This story has been corrected to show that Norcross says the stadium will be demolished, but not that it is scheduled to be demolished.
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