Dozer Park logo unveiled

The Peoria Chiefs and Caterpillar Inc. on Wednesday unveiled the official logo of Dozer Park, the new name of the downtown Peoria baseball stadium that is home to the Chiefs.

As one might expect, the logo incorporates several elements, including a drawing of a yellow Caterpillar bulldozer, a baseball and home plate.

"When thinking about what we wanted as a visual representation of Dozer Park, we wanted it to be fun, represent Caterpillar and be recognizable as a ballpark logo. We think this logo is a great blend of Caterpillar and baseball," said Caterpillar spokeswoman Lisa Miller.

"We used a large track-type tractor for inspiration. We wanted to incorporate a bulldozer in the logo since we named the ballpark 'Dozer Park.' The logo also features home plate and a baseball," she added.

Miller said Caterpillar and the Chiefs are working on getting signs installed around the ballpark as soon as possible. "We are still planning on having a grand re-opening event for the Peoria area this summer," she said.

Caterpillar agreed to acquire the naming rights to the stadium, which is in its 12th season, as part of an overall refinancing package to help the Chiefs and stadium owners retire or reduce some debt. Included was Peoria City Council approval to forgive the remaining $1.2 million in debt from general obligation bonds issued to pay for infrastructure around the stadium. That debt now will be paid from the city's general fund.

For the naming rights, Caterpillar will pay $2 million over 10 years.

The original name of the stadium was O'Brien Field as O'Brien Motors had the naming rights for the first decade. With that O'Brien parked cars on the stadium concourse.

There is a possibility Caterpillar will park some of its smaller equipment on the concourse in the future.

About the Author

Paul Gordon is the editor of The Peorian after spending 29 years of indentured servitude at the Peoria Journal Star. He’s an award-winning writer, raconteur and song-and-dance man. He also went to a high school whose team name is the Alices (that’s Vincennes Lincoln High School in Indiana; you can look it up).