If Manhattan High School sports has an epicenter, it’s hard to make the case that it’s anywhere other than CiCo Park.
CiCo Park, specifically Bishop Stadium, has been the home of MHS’s football, soccer and track and field teams for a while. And now, the newly renovated Steel and Pipe Supply Ballpark, consisting of two baseball fields and two softball fields, is the new home of MHS baseball and softball.
“We tasked BHS construction with finishing this project in 14 months, so we could play baseball [and softball] out here this spring, in particular for the high school season,” Manhattan Parks and Recreation director Aaron Stewart said. “And so to have this thing done right before April 1…That timeline was really critical, and the weather played a big factor.”
MHS tennis will soon utilize eight new tennis courts, which are expected to be finished this fall. Also, throwers that compete in discus, javelin and shot put for MHS will soon get a new and improved throwing area.
According to mayor Susan Adamchak in an address to attendees of the park’s grand opening on March 28, the park was originally constructed in the 1960s.
“Adding the pool was virtually the only improvement made since that time,” she said. “60 years later, it’s time for a new chapter.”
The park also added several batting cages.
“Those will be available to the public throughout the year,” deputy city manager Jason Hilgers said. “You can see there’s not a lot of space between fields to warm up. That’ll be the area they do it. We’ve seen it at college facilities. A lot of high school facilities across the state are similar. But with eight cages, I think we’re going to separate ourselves a little bit.”
Another new addition is Tindall View Deck, which provides a high vantage point of all four fields.
“It’s my throwback to the old octopus,” Stewart said.
The project, which cost taxpayers $17.5 million, began in December 2024. Aside from the more-flashy new features of the park, many more practical elements make the park what it is, including new bathrooms, turf infields and a new drainage system.
“I actually worked out here as a maintenance worker,” Stewart said. “And we would spend hours draining fields after a rainstorm to try to get them playable. That needed to be corrected. Just from a facility standpoint, we needed to get things that were more playable for a longer time, with the turf infields.”
Stewart grew up in Manhattan and spent time as a kid at CiCo Park; the same is true for long-time MHS athletic director Michael Marsh.
“It’s like fruition,” Marsh said. “You look at it and you think, ‘Man, as a kid, seeing what CiCo Park used to be and what it is today, it’s a special time for everybody.’ My folks and I grew up straight down the road, down here, about six blocks from the football stadium. [We] made many trips out here as a kid.”
CiCo Park’s location is something that makes it inviting to the passerby.
“I had a former Manhattan High, former K-State ball player [that] called me this week. He hadn’t been in town for a while. He drove by, and he’s like, ‘Do you realize how visible your high school, your youth games will be?’” Hilgers said. “And I’m like, ‘That is part of the draw here at CiCo.’ We’ve got Kimball Avenue and Seth Child [Road] running right by it. Folks coming home from work or out-and-about on the weekend and see a ball game going on, they’ll be able to drop in.”
