Hinchliffe Stadium

UPDATES:
2000: The Stadium has been included in 5-year $763 million modernization plan for Paterson schools (9.6 million in the stadium).

2002: “Friends of Hinchliffe Stadium,” a non-profit dedicated to the preservation, restoration, and redevelopment of Hinchliffe, has been formed. The group is composed of local volunteers. Visit their website

2/04: The NJ DEP announced the inclusion of Hinchliffe Stadium on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places.

2009: The New Jersey Historic Trust has awarded Friends of Hinchliffe Stadium a grant to fund a historic structure report for the stadium, identifying preservation priorities and assessing potential costs in anticipation of future repair.

11/09: The National Trust for Historic Preservation featured Hinchliffe Stadium as the cover story in its Nov/Dec 2009 issue of Preservation Magazine. The magazine included a 10-page spread on the stadium and its significance as one of the few extant remnants of segregated professional sports.

11/09: On November 3, voters in the City of Paterson approved 3-to-1 a $15 million bond referendum to fund the restoration of Hinchliffe Stadium. Of the $15 million, just over $2 million will go toward improvements at two other area athletic/historic sites, Baurle Field and the Paterson Armory, while the rest will fund the complete restoration of Hinchliffe Stadium. Community forums to discuss the project’s design, which must be approved by the City and the Board of Education, are planned.

3/2010: Friends of Hinchliffe Stadium was one of five advocacy groups invovled in a March 25 summit, hosted by PNJ, focusing on reinvigorating advocacy for previously-listed “10 Most Endangered” places. You can find out more about the summit here.

5/10: On May 19, Hinchliffe Stadium was listed as one of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s “11 Most Endangered Historic Places” in the U.S.! Visit the National Trust’s “11 Most” webpage for more infomation.

6/10: The students of Paterson’s School 5, an immediate neighbor of Hinchliffe, were inspired by the National Trust’s listing to fundraise for the stadium. They aspired to raise $1,000, but exceeded this and have donated $1,362 to the Friends of Hinchliffe Stadium. Every penny that the students raised will go toward matching the 2009 NJ Historic Trust Grant awarded to Hinchliffe.

3/2011: Paterson City Council has approved approximately $1 million in bonding for conditions and structural assessments for Hinchliffe Stadium. The work should being this year.

5/2011: Hinchliffe Stadium has been recommended for a $500,000 capital preservation grant from the Garden State Preservation Trust Fund. The NJ Historic Trust announced the recommendation in April. The stadium is one of 58 historic resources on the current recommendations list. The proposed grant awards were ratified by the GSPT during the first week of May, and now must move through the legislature before final approval by the governor.

2012: Hinchliffe Stadium has been named one of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s “National Treasures.” For more information on the National Treasures program, visit the NTHP’s website.

DESCRIPTION:
The Paterson Public School System owns Hinchliffe Stadium, located in the city of Paterson, New Jersey. It has served as the city’s main arena for athletic and special events since its dedication in 1932 as a public works project under Mayor John V. Hinchliffe. Designed by architect John Shaw, the building is significant for its Art Deco style of architecture as applied to a sports arena, and for its association with City of Paterson events and persons.

In addition to providing a community venue for high school baseball, football, football, and track & field events for the past nearly seventy-five years, Hinchliffe Stadium has been home to important professional and semi-professional baseball (Paterson Silk Sox, Paterson Phillies, New York Black Yankees), football and soccer, and has hosted major boxing tournaments and daredevil car races. Thousands of local athletes honed their skills at Hinchliffe, many becoming national, world, and Olympic champions.

Hinchlifee is one of New Jersey’s oldest stadiums of its size, and one of a dwindling number of horseshoe arenas in the U.S. It is also one of only two negro leagues stadiums left stading in the U.S., and has hosted numerous black baseball legends, including Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige.

By 1995, Hinchliffe was deteriorating rapidly and in need of significant repairs. Without sufficient funding to complete the repairs, the Paterson School District closed the stadium that year and indicated that demolition was a future possibility.

CONTACTS:
Paterson Historic Preservation Commission
65 McBride Avenue Extension
Paterson, NJ 07501
973-357-1911

Friends of Hinchliffe Stadium
info@hinchliffestadium.org