Cohen & Mets Foundations Invest $2.35M in Women's Baseball Center

• The International Women's Baseball Center (IWBC) in Rockford, was awarded a $2 million grant by the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation
• As a token of appreciation for the Cohen Foundation, the park surrounding Beyer Stadium will be officially called Maybelle Blair Park

International Women's Baseball Center (IWBC) received a $2 million grant from the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation and a $350,000 grant from the Amazin' Mets Foundation. These will be used for the renovation of Beyer Stadium in Rockford, Illinois, announced the community.

In recognition of the Cohen Foundation's lead support, the park that encircles the stadium will be named Maybelle Blair Park, in tribute to Maybelle Blair, baseball legend and founding director emeritus of the IWBC.

Maybelle played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in 1948 and then in the National Women's Softball League. She was also a recipient of the first Amazin' Mets Foundation Legacy Award in 2023.

Planned improvements to Beyer Stadium include the construction of the Cohen Bleachers, new restroom facilities, regarding and sodding of the field, new irrigation and electric systems, enhanced dugouts, scoreboard, foul poles, batting cages, pitching areas, and Amazin' Mets Foundation Press Box.

The north open space beyond the stadium will include the Women's Baseball Gallery, an outdoor exhibit with ceremonial pylons commemorating significant achievements in women's baseball, historic main entrance ticket booth restoration, walkways, and recreational areas.

The three-phase project is to be done. Phase One, which is to be finished in 2026, will be funded with an extra $1.5 million from the Rockford city, $400,000 from Illinois State Senator Steve Stadelman, and the IWBC's hosting of the World Baseball Softball Confederation Women's Baseball World Cup Group Stage in 2026.

The complete six-acre campus endeavor will be finished in 2030. Phase Two will cost $22.8 million and will include a state-of-the-art activity center and interactive museum location facing and above Beyer Stadium at Maybelle Blair.

Phase Three will cost an estimated $3 million and will focus on creating artifacts and exhibits in the museum, focusing first on the restoration of a Rockford Peaches World War II-era team bus.