By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor
Gov. Mike Beebe was among the dignitaries present for the christening of Gwatney Stadium in Jacksonville’s Dupree Park on Wednesday afternoon.
The ballpark, now known as Hickingbotham Field at Gwatney Stadium, has been renamed in honor of the late state senator and Jacksonville businessman Bill Gwatney, who was killed by a gunman in 2008.
“He was so young and so talented,” Beebe said of Gwatney, his friend. “And when anybody that young is taken from us in a senseless manner like a shooting, we do anything we can do to help remember Bill and what his contributions were to the people of Arkansas.”
Gwatney was a long-time sponsor of local American Legion baseball teams, which played at the field in Dupree Park. The stadium is also home to the Jacksonville Red Devils high school team, and Wednesday’s ceremony was followed by a junior varsity game.
“He always sponsored a team and he always wanted a place so the kids would have constructive activities,” Beebe said.
The ballpark’s new name was revealed on the scoreboard, which was unveiled before the game.
Bill Gwatney’s father Harold threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
“I feel good that they did this for him but I’d give this if he could be here rather than me,” Harold Gwatney said.
Also present were Bill Gwatney’s wife Rebecca and their children, Jacksonville Mayor Gary Fletcher and First Arkansas Bank and Trust CEO Larry Wilson.
For Rebecca Gwatney, the ballpark dedication triggered a flood of memories.
“You would think, as time went on, you would think it would become easier,” she said. “But every time you walk into something like this you get the same feelings over again.”
Rebecca Gwatney said the renaming was a fitting tribute.
“Bill was very involved in the community in Jacksonville,” she said “He grew up here. I grew up here.”
It took three years for First Arkansas Bank and Trust to raise the $10,000 needed tocommemorate Gwatney on the field’s new scoreboard and the dedication then had to be postponed because of bad weather.
But Wednesday was perfect weather both for the ceremony and to play a ballgame.
“When they came up with this idea, I thought it was a great idea,” Harold Gwatney said. “It’s one of the things that will keep him with us for a long time.
“Years and years from now people will look at it and say who was Bill Gwatney? What did he do? But the people here today remember Bill.”
