Atlantic City to Turn Pop Lloyd Stadium into Youth Sports Hub

Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small shared news Sunday about plans to turn the city's shuttered Pop Lloyd Stadium into a new youth recreational sports hub.

Pop Lloyd Stadium to Become Youth Sports Complex

Atlantic City plans to start construction in April on an AC Rec youth sports hub featuring five playing fields on the site of Pop Loyd Stadium.

According to a Facebook post from Small, the new complex will include a baseball field, soccer field, and three multi-purpose fields, complete with new grandstands, exterior work, fencing, and lighting.

Atlantic City is focusing on improving the city's youth sports programs.

Who Was Pop Lloyd?

John Henry "Pop" Lloyd, one of the best Negro League baseball players of his day, was an Atlantic City man who Babe Ruth once called the best player he ever saw. Lloyd was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977.

Lloyd played shortstop on the Negro League team the Atlantic City Bacharach Giants beginning in 1919 and became a player-coach with the team a few years later.

When his playing career ended, Lloyd worked as a custodian at Atlantic City's Indiana Avenue School and devoted his time to teaching local kids how to play baseball.

Lloyd died in 1964 at age 79.

What is the History of Pop Lloyd Stadium?

According to the Press of Atlantic City, the city built and named its new ball field Pop Lloyd Stadium in 1949, and dedicated it to " a humble, beloved American whose life has been devoted to baseball, his job, and the development of American Youth."

After being restored in the 1990s, Pop Loyd Stadium, at 1200 N. Martin Luther King Blvd, has been permanently closed in recent years.