A welcome addition to the city of Idaho Falls, Melaleuca Field has been entertaining fans with exciting baseball-while also hosting other community events-since its grand opening in 2007. However, Idaho Falls' obsession with America's pastime goes back a lot further than that.

In the late 19^th century, long before Idaho Falls even became a city, local settlers were playing baseball along the banks of the Snake River. Coinciding with the creation of the first city park in Idaho Falls, the first ball diamond was scratched into the dirt of a beet field in 1919. Professional baseball came to Idaho Falls in 1926, and play-for-pay clubs occasionally saw action here until the conclusion of World War II in 1945. The town has fielded a pro team ever since.

In order to help finance a new stadium, the city of Idaho Falls turned to the community for fundraising. In a great show of support for the game and their hometown team, many individuals and businesses came through as expected. However, a steep and unexpected rise in construction costs found the organizers short and the professional club threatened to leave the area unless a new stadium was immediately constructed.

Past the deadline, they turned to Idaho businessman Frank VanderSloot, CEO of the Idaho Falls-based health products company Melaleuca. Recognizing the positive impact baseball had on the town, Frank completed the fundraising effort by donating more than enough to finish the project. Following the 2006 season, McDermott Field was then demolished, making way for Idaho Falls' new ballpark.

Designed by architects Nielson Bodily & Associates and built by general contractors Bateman Hall, Inc.-both Idaho Falls firms-Melaleuca Field was completed entirely in the offseason to ensure the team wouldn't miss a single game.

Melaleuca Field, which features Kentucky bluegrass as its playing surface, has a standard seating capacity of 3,600 people. The grandstand includes 1,350 box seats, 1,459 bench seats with backs and eight luxury boxes. Group areas include a picnic area in front of the brick wall down the third-base line, picnic tables on a bleacher deck down the left-field line, and a larger party area down the right-field line.