Long neglected LaGrave Field featured in new Texas Rangers promotional video
FORT WORTH (CBSNewsTexas) - Snapshots of a baseball stadium in the shadow of downtown Fort Worth, in a new promotional video for the Texas Rangers, aren't a digital creation.
That really is LaGrave Field, the abandoned and dilapidated stadium, still sitting on the city's north side.
The Rangers creative team featured it in part of the campaign for the team's new City Connect uniforms, debuting Friday night in Arlington.
Since the concept for the uniform design was inspired by the region's old teams, including the Panthers and Cats that played in Fort Worth, it made sense according to creative director Scott Biggers, to try to include the old ballpark.
"There are a couple of long shots that we used, sort of bookending the piece, the beginning and the end," Biggers said. "And those to us just kind of harken back to some of the old architecture of old baseball parks, to the intimacy of a park like that. And even just the downtown view, we love."
Shots of the field, and the stands, make the old park look almost playable.
In reality, it's as rundown as ever, with trees growing in the seating areas, graffiti covering the walls and damage from fires and floods evident.
Photographers used some creative angles to make the old park look presentable, though it hasn't hosted a game in nearly 10 years.
There is still interest in restoring the stadium, and seeing baseball return to Fort Worth. Hayden Clark, who worked as the mascot for the Fort Worth Cats, has been hoping for a return for years and thought the ad might give a little bump in interest to keeping the stadium in the city.
"They make it look appealing, and exciting, and I'm like, 'Yeah let's focus on when it looked like that.' "
There aren't currently any plans to do that though. The Tarrant Regional Water District owns the stadium. While some of the land around the park is for sale for potential development, there is no sale or reuse plan pending for LaGrave.