For any diehard fan of baseball, the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa, has been home to great tradition and great fun. Whether it be afternoons spent relaxing in the sun surrounded by the breeze in the corn fields, or nights filled with the hum of stadium bulbs burning bright, the Field of Dreams is home to many who love the thrill and the magic of America’s favorite pastime.

When the property known to many as the popular site for the film Field of Dreams, starring famous actors such as Kevin Costner, as Ray Kinsella, and James Earl Jones as Terence Mann, was announced to be up for sale, many were in shock. The site, including the field, the surrounding buildings, and around 190 acres of cornfields, was built in three days during the summer of 1988 for the film based upon the book “Shoeless Joe” by W.P. Kinsella, a graduate of the University of Iowa. When locations for the film were discussed, nothing seemed to compare to the rolling hills and vast pastures of the deep Iowan roots from the novel.

After the movie was released in 1989, many visitors began to arrive on the Lansing farm from near and far. Perhaps the travelers were searching to experience the rousing tale of an Iowan farmer called, quite literally, to build a field for the ghost of famous baseball player Shoeless Joe and his teammates, or maybe, the source of their journey comes from an inherent, profound love of the game.

The site has been a popular tourist destination ever since, for as they say in the film, “If you build it, they will come.” Owners Don and Becky Lansing recently spread the word that the acreage would be taken into the hands of Mike and Denise Stillman, owners of the company Go the Distance Baseball LLC. The land which had been in the Lansing family since 1906, will now be transformed into an ‘All-Star Ballpark Heaven,’ including different field complexes for baseball and softball alike, along with an indoor training facility where tournaments, skills competitions, and other events will be held.

Don and Becky Lansing knew that in order to sell the property, they needed to find a buyer that would continue to uphold the deep history of the site’s baseball heritage. The Stillman family couldn’t be happier to build upon that heritage and they fully intend to preserve and maintain the already existing property and its buildings in order to carry on the tradition.

The legacy of the Field of Dreams can only be described as Terence Mann (Jones) said to Ray Kinsella (Costner) in the film, “The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it’s a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh … people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come.”