Rent One Park in Marion under new ownership

MARION, Ill. (KFVS) - After sitting unoccupied for months, the former Southern Illinois Miners Stadium has new owners.

Back in October of 2021, the Simmons announced retirement from the Southern Illinois Miners and Rent One Park.

This left many wondering what the future of the stadium would be.

Now there is an answer and a plan the new owners of the ballpark are sharing.

“We really want to make sure that a facility like this stayed going,” said Rodney Cabaness, Marion Stadium LLC president.

Cabaness said that’s exactly what his group, Marion Stadium LLC is working on doing.

One of their ideas is getting the local youth involved.

“Doing more tournaments, things like that and allow the local kids, to get out here and play on a facility like this,” said Cabaness.

Cabaness said he believes sports will be a big part of the stadium’s future. Another Idea they are talking about is entertainment.

“This is a great entertainment venue, whether it be concerts or other things like that,” said Cabaness.

The group purchased the stadium more than 4 weeks ago. Now they are working on the future of Rent One Park.

“For the last several weeks, we’ve just been putting the plans together and we have, we’re bringing in a consultant to come in and help us utilize this stadium to the best of its ability,” said Cabaness.

The company already owns the Illinois Centre Mall and Kokopelli Golf Club. The group wants this venue to be apart of the southern Illinois community for years to come.

“I think the most important thing for people to know is that this facility will stay a part of southern Illinois and it’ll be utilized to the greatest of its ability. So we’ll bring different things in to southern Illinois,” said Cabaness.

Cabaness said the Simmons, the former owners of the Southern Illinois Miners and Rent One Park, wanted their vision to be continued with the next owners.

“They really wanted to make sure that the stadium kept going and that it was really important to them that it was put in someone’s hands that was going perpetuate the good things that have been happening here,” said Cabaness.

The price of the purchase is not public, but Cabaness did say this “It was purchased for far less than what it cost to build for sure.”

Cabaness said an abundance of ideas have been flowing in.

“We’ve had a lot of crazy things coming through online and phone calls, people calling in with different ideas,” said Cabaness.

If you have any ideas of what you would like to potentially see at Rent One Park, you can email the new owners here.

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