Although not yet ready to be installed at the Klumpp Stadium field, the scoreboard donated to the Little League which will commemorate the use of the location as a site for filming Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds has arrived.
“We have it stored,” said City Law Department Director Jay Coffey, noting that the scoreboard installation must wait for other part of the field restoration.
Although Little League officials had hoped the field could be unveiled in time for the season open in late April, a particularly wet spring delayed work moving the completion date back several times. Coffey said the field and new score board will be officially unveiled on May 21.
Klumpp Stadium was used as a location for a fictional gas station in the film and Paramount agreed to pay the city $125,000 for the restoration of the field toward the restoration and upgrade of the field in time for the May 1 Little League opening day festivities. The company has also agreed to pay the city $10,000 to replace a light pole they removed prior to filming. The filming of the blockbuster film was concluded in slightly less than two weeks in November, the construction of the gas station and its later demolition took months. Coffey said the restoration is currently just under the projected budget
In addition, the director, Steven Spielberg, and the film’s star, Tom Cruise, have contributed the construction of a new War of the Worlds score board to mark the place where the movie was filmed. In addition, Cruise also donated additional money to provide new dug outs.
Paramount has also set aside $25,000 to cover any environmental issues that might come up. Coffey said an evaluation by the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is nearly complete.
