Ready Or Not, Kokomo Preparing For Jackrabbit's Home Opener

Despite being five weeks behind schedule, Kokomo officials say opening day in their new baseball stadium is a go for Saturday.

With only a couple days before opening night, workers are busy getting the essentials prepared at Municipal stadium for the debut of Kokomo’s baseball team, the Jackrabbits.

“The stadium will be ready, but it won’t be completed,” says Mayor Greg Goodnight.

He says most of the 2,500 infield seats are sold but a few lawn seats are still available.

Workers on Tuesday were still attaching seats, sanding walls and tucking mortar.

Jackrabbits head coach Greg Van Horn looked on. Unbelievable is how he describes the new stadium.

“It’s amazing. And I’m so impressed," Van Horn said. "I say this all the time. I’m amazed at how many man hours go into building a stadium like this. It’s really cool to be here.”

But Mayor Goodnight is still sweeping up the mess surrounding the stadium over FEMA flood mitigation grants and green spaces.

“Yeah, we’re working to resolve it. For example, our field surface was submitted in January, took a long time before they finally approved it, but they approved our original plans for turf… the permeable sidewalks,” Goodnight says.

The city is also able to keep the stadium funded throughout the year without using city tax dollars.

Goodnight says the team leases the stadium from the city, pays all the utilities and maintains the field while area high school teams will use the facility for free and keep ticket revenue.

First pitch is under the lights Saturday at 7:05 p.m.