While the Herb Beauchamp Athletic Field no longer exists, its memory and those of the athletes and events it hosted will live forever.
Originally called Town Park, the Herb Beauchamp Athletic Field was located on what now is the northeast corner of the North Simcoe Sports and Recreation Centre.
It was the focal point of the town’s sporting life, including high-school football, lacrosse, and track and field. For many years, the Midland Fall Fair was held there until its demise in the 1980s.
But baseball was its heart and soul, a fact reflected in its commonly used nickname of “the main diamond”.
The most recognized and prolific occupants were the Midland Indians. From the late 1950s into the early 1970s, the Indians were undeniably the dominant intermediate men’s baseball team in the province. From 1958 to 1972, they won 10 pennants and six Ontario Baseball Association championships.
It was the home diamond for the Midland Minor Baseball Association, as well as for the Midland Monarchs women’s fastball team. In 1951, the Monarchs captured the provincial Women’s Softball Union Intermediate B title and repeated as champions the following year.
In 1986, the Town of Midland honoured the memory of Herb Beauchamp (1899-1984), Midland’s mayor from 1963 to 1968, by renaming the property Herb Beauchamp Athletic Field.
The Herb Beauchamp Athletic Field was removed in 2004 due to the construction of the North Simcoe Sports and Recreation Centre.
A memorial stone is located at the northeast corner of the building to commemorate the former facility.
