The corn-fed Iowa baseball stadium constructed by Populous for this year’s thrilling Field of Dreams game has been named the winner of the coveted Baseballparks.com “Ballpark of the Year” award that began in the year 2000. 

The pop-up stadium joins HOK’s Las Vegas Aviators stadium and San Diego’s Petco Park as winners of the magazine’s annual award. Founder Joe Mock explained that this year’s crop had represented the deepest field he’d seen since 2009, the year the new Yankee Stadium opened at a then-record cost of $1.5 billion.

After some delays, the $6 million stadium was able to be completed in time for the August match-up between the Yankees and the White Sox that ended when superstar Chicago shortstop Tim Anderson sent a walk-off home run into the 12-foot-tall corn stalks behind the right-field fence.

“[We] were privileged to design the Field of Dreams Ballpark and bring the magic and poetry of the iconic film to life,” Populous senior principal Todd Barnes said in a press statement. “Between five years of planning, two attempts to build the ballpark during the pandemic and the unmatched innovation, creativity and thought required from the entire ‘Dream Team,’ we are grateful to MLB for the opportunity, and honored to earn Ballpark of the Year for the 11th time in our firm’s history.”

The firm worked closely with BrightView, a commercial landscaping firm that helped transform the 159-acre tourist destination into a functioning MLB facility complete with bullpens and a barnside scoreboard that pays homage to the classic 1989 film.

“It was a reflection of our community,” Dyserville, Iowa city administrator Mick Michel said of the stadium.

Future games have been scheduled between the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds.