Olive Memorial Stadium

Burbank N Beyond Sports Producer Dick Dornan presents Olive Memorial Stadium.

Gone but not forgotten. Quiet but not silent. From 1947 to 1989, a brick-facade stadium located at 1111 W. Olive Ave. (now known as George Izay Park) was home to Burbank residents and guests who utilized the facility for America's national pastime of baseball. Guests you might ask? Who might that be? Well, Olive Memorial Stadium was home to the St. Louis Browns of Major League Baseball during spring training from 1949 -- 1952.

It's been 15 years now since the demolition of the 'ole stadium. Tucked away in the southwest corner of the park, this grand old venue with a seating capacity of 1,000 people hosted each spring what many critics called the "worst team in the history of baseball".

The stadium closed in 1989 and for six years thereafter, debates and arguments raged on for the future of this historic site. Should it be renovated? Should it be destroyed and a new baseball structure built? Ultimately, the facility was rendered unsafe by the Burbank City Council.
Citing the poor dilapidated condition of the venue, the popularity of area softball and the expensive cost to rebuild a new baseball stadium (between $800,000 and a $1,000,000), Olive Memorial Stadium was demolished in 1995 and replaced with the current softball field in existence.

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