Equity Bank Park

Equity Bank Park, previously known as Riverfront Stadium, is a baseball park in downtown Wichita, Kansas, United States. It serves as the home ballpark of the Wichita Wind Surge of the Texas League. The team relocated from the New Orleans suburb of Metairie, Louisiana, after the 2019 season.^[7]

Equity Bank Park

Equity Bank Park from above home plate in 2023
Equity Bank Park Location within Kansas Show map of Kansas Equity Bank Park Location within the United States Show map of the United States
Former names	Riverfront Stadium (2021–2024)
Location	275 S. McLean Blvd., Wichita, Kansas United States
Coordinates	37°40′53″N 97°20′45″W
Owner	City of Wichita
Operator	Wichita Wind Surge
Executive suites	12[1]
Capacity	10,025 seated 12,000 (baseball) 18,000 (concerts)[1]
Record attendance	10,442 (September 16, 2023; Wichita Wind Surge vs. Midland RockHounds)[2]
Field size	Left field: 340 ft (100 m) Center field: 400 ft (120 m) Right field: 325 ft (99 m)[3]
Construction
Broke ground	February 13, 2019[4]
Opened	April 10, 2021[5]
Construction cost	$75 million[6]
Architect	DLR Group[6] SJCF Architecture
Structural engineer	Professional Engineering Consultants[6]
Services engineer	Professional Engineering Consultants[6]
General contractor	JE Dunn/EBY[6]
Tenants
Wichita Wind Surge (PCL/DAC) 2020–present NBC World Series 2019

Equity Bank Park has a total seating capacity of 10,025 people with 6,000 in fixed seating in addition to luxury suites and a grass berm in right field.^[6][7][8] When not used for baseball, the city plans to use the facility for sports festivals, high school football, concerts, and an ice rink in winter.^[7] The new ballpark will share hosting of the National Baseball Congress World Series (NBC World Series) with Eck Stadium at Wichita State.^[9]

History

Previous stadiums

Island Park baseball stadium was built in 1912 on what was then Ackerman Island in the Arkansas River, north of the Douglas Street bridge.^[10] Baseball was played there from 1912 to 1933, when the stadium was torn down so the island could be removed to widen the river into one channel.^[11]

Lawrence Stadium was built on the site of the current stadium in 1934 as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project during the Great Depression. In 1978, it was renamed to Lawrence–Dumont Stadium. In November 2018, the stadium was demolished to make room for the new Riverfront Stadium. The National Baseball Congress World Series was played entirely at Lawrence–Dumont Stadium from 1935 until 2018.^[12]

Current stadium

Downton Wichita skyline across the Arkansas River, looking northeast (2023)

Riverfront Stadium was built on the site of the former Lawrence–Dumont Stadium.^[7] Ground was broken for the ballpark in February 2019. A topping out ceremony, marking the placement of the last steel beam, was held on August 7, 2019.^[13] The stadium name was announced on March 6, 2020.^[8]

The ballpark was built to host the New Orleans Baby Cakes, a AAA Pacific Coast League farm team for the Major League Miami Marlins. However, a combination of the cancellation of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Major League Baseball's realignment of the minor leagues for 2021, resulted in the team dropping down to the Double-A Texas League without having played a Triple-A game.^[14]. After demotion to AA baseball, the team became affiliated with the Minnesota Twins, and named Wichita Wind Surge, after an online contest in the local newspaper allowed the public to select from numerous logos.

On April 10, 2021, the Wichita State Shockers baseball team hosted the University of Houston in the first baseball game played at Riverfront Stadium.^[5]

On January 21, 2025, the stadium was renamed to Equity Bank Park after locally based Equity Bank bought the naming rights, which will last until 2039.^[15]