Once upon a time, a vial of dirt from the Field of Dreams movie site could be purchased at the movie site’s souvenir stand for a few bucks. Now 193 acres of dirt on Lansing farm can be bought for $5.4 million.
The Movie Site is Located 200 Miles West of Chicago
Joe Scherrman of Dream Catcher Productions and the producer and director of the 2009 documentary, Ghost Players: Relive the Dream is hoping to find the funding necessary to purchase the farm.
Located southwest of Dyersville, Iowa, the property has been in the Lansing family for over a hundred years and includes the well maintained two bedroom house used in the interior and exterior shots in the movie, the baseball diamond, bleachers, the outfield as well as the surrounding acreage and out buildings.
Real Estate Listed with Former Baseball Player
The property is listed with Ken “Bulldog” Sanders, a former major league pitcher and Vice President of Corporate Services for GMAC First Realty in Milwaukee, WI.
“If you build it, they will come.”
In the film, the ghost players emerge from a cornfield to play on the baseball diamond that Ray Kinsella, portrayed by Kevin Costner, built based on a suggestion from the voice in his head. And if you invite the ghost players, they will come. Since the film’s release in 1989, Scherrman has followed the Ghost Players baseball team across the world videotaping their events. The footage became his award-winning documentary.
The Ghost Players and Baseball
Until 2007, when left and center field of the diamond was purchased by the Lansings consolidating the field, the Ghost Players would step out of the cornfield to play ball on Sunday during the summer.
Buying the Real Estate
In an email newsletter for Ghost Player LLC, Scherrman proposed that 3,000 people each contribute $2000 to buy the property. The funds would maintain the field for a year while the details of ownership are prepared. “So far,” Scherrman said, “we are just gauging interest.”
And interested parties have come forward, including a woman in Illinois who couldn’t afford $2000, but would try to scrape together $100. So far, over $150,000 has been pledged mostly from the state of Iowa, but, according to Scherrman, he’s gotten interest from as far away as China and Japan.
Baseball and Movie Fans Keeping Coming
Despite its location in a small Iowa town 200 miles west of Chicago, the Field of Dreams movie site boosts of tens of thousands of visitors each season coming from as far away as Thailand to play ball during the summer. The attraction is open April 1 through November 30.
Making the Dream Come True
Scherrman has dreams that if they buy it, they will continue to come. He envisions a museum and small theatre in the barn and perhaps renting the house for overnight stays. Considering the price of the farm, that may be a stretch, but then, like the movie, anything can happen if you just listen to that voice in your head.
Candice Kramer - As a content creator, Candee has investigated various forms of writing resulting in two feature length scripts. One, a comedy, placed in ...
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