Members of The Friends of Duncan Park and supporters of area youth gathered at the ballpark on Thursday, April 23rd, to spruce up the stadium
as part of the warmup for the July celebration of its 100th anniversary.
Preparations for the Stadium Centennial
Dr. Edwin C. Epps•April 29, 2026•3 min read•1 views
Members of The Friends of Duncan Park and supporters of area youth gathered at the ballpark on Thursday, April 23rd, to spruce up the stadium
as part of the warmup for the July celebration of its 100th anniversary.
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Members of The Friends of Duncan Park and supporters of area youth gathered at the ballpark on Thursday, April 23rd, to spruce up the stadium as part of the warmup for the July celebration of its 100th anniversary.
Those who contributed to the ongoing landscaping and cleanup of the grounds around the stadium were apprentices of the Youth Sports Bureau. Organizer of the event was Luther Norman of the YSB and Friends, a decades-long champion of and advocate for the stadium.
As is the case with any structure like the old ballpark, maintenance and improvement require constant attention. Among the perpetual concerns are the clearance of weeds and invasive species; planting, watering, mulching, and pruning of new trees and flowering native shrubbery; cleanup and removal of trash and rubbish around the facility; touchup painting and repair; repainting of parking spaces in the lower carpark; and the installation and upkeep of signage.
The City of Spartanburg and Spartanburg County School District Seven are jointly responsible for Duncan Park Stadium, and they are both also involved in current work in and around the grandstand. Fans who attend games of the Spartanburg High School, American Legion Post 28, Hillbrook Baseball, and other teams this spring and summer will notice the fruits of this and other labor by a large number of volunteers and employees of the school district and the city as we get closer to the official centennial date of July the 8th and the centennial commemoration events the following Saturday, July 11th.
Tyrone Norman of the Youth Sports Bureau and Duran Mills, a former YSB apprentice and now owner of D & D Handyman Service & Lawn Care, support Spartanburg youth by serving as mentors who help teach the young men they work with practical life skills and work habits that will enable them to become productive members of their communities.
Young trainees of the YSB apprenticeship program learn how to use real professional equipment under the watchful eyes of local businessmen who donate their time and expertise to a program that some of them participated in as students. Duran Mills was an award-winning State Championship athlete who played both football and basketball at Spartanburg High School and was selected to play in the Shrine Bowl in his senior year.
Additional pre-Centennial preparation will include the restoration of washed and eroded gullies on the parking lot hillside and the repainting of the lines of the parking spaces. There will also be some new signage and colorful painted images of the history and heritage of baseball in Spartanburg. Groups contributing to this work will include the City of Spartanburg, Spartanburg County School District Seven, P. A. L. Spartanburg, the Hub City Spartanburgers, and the Spartanburg County Public Library.
Local citizens who would like to contribute to the work at the stadium can do so by contacting John Faris at the Friends of Duncan Park (duncanparksc@gmail.com); Luther Norman and the Youth Sports Bureau (youthsportsbureau@yahoo.com); Ben Lea at P. A. L. (blea@palspartanburg.org); Dr. Ed Epps (eepps7@icloud.com OR www.beautifulduncanpark.com); Kim Brown at the City of Spartanburg’s Department of Parks, Recreation, and Special Events (kbrown@cityofspartanburg.org); or Dr. Eric Levitt at School District Seven (ejleviitt@spart7.org).
Those who wish to donate to the newly established Friends of Duncan Park Fund at the Spartanburg County Foundation can do so by mail or online. Contact this Fund at https://godonate.akoyago.com/spcf/fund/friendsofduncanpark OR use the following QR Code:
OR mail to The Spartanburg County Foundation, ATTN: Fund 02445, 424 East Kennedy Street, Spartanburg, SC 29302. If sending a check via mail, to ensure that you receive your tax receipt letter in a timely manner include your name, mailing address, email address, and phone number with your check.
Dr. Edwin C. Epps
Author
Dr. Edwin C. Epps is a retired educator with more than forty years' experience in public school classrooms... He is the author of Literary South Carolina (Hub City Press, 2004) and a proud member of Phi Beta Kappa who believes in the value of the humanities in a rapidly changing world.
On Saturday, April 18th, several dozen area youth took the field at Duncan Park Stadium for a clinic sponsored by Major League Baseball (MLB), the Youth Sports Bureau (YSB), and Palmetto Baseball Prospects (PBP). Once again the sound of bats against balls and gloves hard-thumped by throws to first filled the air.
On the morning of Monday, February 9th, the Hub City Spartanburgers held a press launch at Duncan Park Stadium for their upcoming Pastimes series of alternate identity promotions which will be a headline feature of the 2026 baseball season at Fifth Third Park. Each of the six games which make up the series will commemorate a different era or classification of hardball played at the old ballpark over the last 100 years. Spartanburgers General Manager Tyson Jeffers, Spartanburg Mayor Jerome Rice, Negro Leagues historian Luther Norman, and I were invited to make brief remarks at the event. Mine follow below.
Beginning this week the Spartanburg County Headquarters Library will host “100 Years of Duncan Park Stadium,” a new exhibition curated by Brad Steinecke, the Assistant Director of Local History in the Kennedy Room. This 19-panel display features a couple of cases containing memorabilia and ephemera from the Library’s archive of items commemorating the history of this grand old stadium. The exhibition is located on the lower level of the Library in the AT&T Exhibition Gallery and will be on display January 20—March 4, 2026.
