Restoration of Downs Field earns recognition for the parks department

The restoration of the grandstands at East Austin’s Downs Field, a recorded Texas historical landmark, was recognized with a Preservation Texas Honor Award at the Central Texas Regional Preservation Summit ceremony. The field, at 2816 E. 12th St., has been the home of sports for Black athletes in Austin for nearly 100 years, and efforts have been underway for a decade to restore and promote the historically significant field. The site was first used in the 1920s by Samuel Huston College baseball and the Austin Black Senators, the first Negro Baseball League team in Austin. Baseball greats associated with the field include Satchel Paige, Willie Mays, Smokey Joe Williams and Buck O’Neil. Later, the site hosted the original L.C. Anderson’s Yellowjackets football team, which won the state championship in 1942. In 1954, Downs Field was established at the site and named in honor of Rev. Karl Downs, who was president of Samuel Huston College. Today, Downs Field is the home field of the Huston-Tillotson Rams. The Austin Parks and Recreation Department replaced the corrugated metal roof and made structural upgrades to the steel supports and wood framing while replicating the original architectural characteristics. The Downs Field Grandstand restoration project was funded by the Historic Preservation Fund in partnership with the Heritage Tourism Division of the Economic Development Department. The fund, made possible through the Hotel Occupancy Tax, helps preserve and restore Austin’s historic treasures.