CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Back in the early 2000's, Robstown was home to the Coastal Bend Aviators. That minor league baseball team is no more, but their stadium still stands, even if it is only rented out for the occasional baseball game or tournament.
That stadium is the Aviator Stadium and there is a high chance that it will be transformed into a new concept called Yoby Park.
Yoby Park stands for "Ye Old Ball Park." Yoby Park is a family- friendly sports entertainment destination. The idea is similar to Top Golf, but instead of swinging at golf balls, guests are hitting baseballs. Yoby Park has its sights set on opening their first location in Robstown.
"Robstown became interesting because you have a stadium here that is vacant. Its been vacant for some time and we're going to repurpose that stadium into the fun place of Yoby Park," President of Yoby Park Leon Mcglockton said.
There will be two levels. One will be a floor level and one will be an upper level. Each level will have 18 bays where groups of up to nine can play in a bay. Every bay will have 81 balls, totaling out to a complete nine inning baseball game. Yoby Park will also have drinks and food.
"Baseball has been played here for quite some time, so everybody knew about this location. So the idea now is that instead of seeing a game, you play in a game. Everybody who plays baseball hits from a tee from some time or another, so the idea is to go back to our youth and hit from a tee," McGlockton said.
Yoby Park will be open seven days a week and also plans to rent out the field to teams in need of batting practice. The company hopes its fun concept brings an economic boost to the city and lasting memories for friends and families. But nothing in set in stone yet.
"There's some basic maintenance items that need to get done that the county already has on the drawing board," Executive Director of the Robstown Area Development Commission John Valls said.
McGlockton said that he is meeting with Nueces County officials to figure out the next steps to bring the park to life.
Yoby Park hopes to open its doors to the public in spring 2024, just in time for baseball season.
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