Chemekata Stadium
Salem, OR
Review by Mike
Chemeketa Stadium is the home of the Marion Berries of the summer collegiate West Coast League as well as Chemeketa Community College baseball. Opened in 1978, the ballpark hosted minor league baseball in the 1970s as the home of the Salem Senators and Salem Angels. While the ballpark may have been allowed to slowly go fallow for some time, it is receiving significant upgrades in advance of the Berries arrival in the summer of 2026.
Upgraded lighting, a snappy turf field, new dugouts and clubhouse to go along with updated lighting bring new life to this pleasant little ballpark. Located on the campus of the college, the main grandstand looks to be original; a squat, straight structure behind home plate with a press box that juts out from the center providing cover from the weather to, perhaps, six fans. A fresh coat of paint on the old stand would not go awry.
Fresh new grandstands are going up down both foul lines, metal structures with fixed back seating that is so fresh it still has that new grandstand smell. When I dropped by in April, there was a lot of construction going on and it looks like the new clubhouses were just foundations at that point. Ample free parking is available across the street.
The scoreboard in right field is simple, just the inning-by-inning score and the basics, but that’s all that should be required. For a state capital, this is a modest facility and it’s surprising that there are no minor league teams in town, but summer collegiate ball is a good place to start and Chemeketa Stadium looks like it will be more than up to the task.
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2026
298
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