Hillsboro’s new home for the Hops is finally real, not just a rendering. The long-promised replacement for Ron Tonkin Field is open for previews, and the Hillsboro Hops are set to play the first official game there on April 7, 2026. The team and the city showed off the finished ballpark over the past week with a series of preview events capped by a public “lights on” night. Built inside the Gordon Faber Recreation Complex, the stadium is a mid-sized sports and concert venue with a total price tag topping $150 million.
What’s inside the new ballpark
According to the City of Hillsboro, the 229,000-square-foot facility comes with plenty of bells and whistles. The design features a 32-foot cantilevered canopy, a 360-degree wraparound concourse, a kids’ play zone, a multi-vendor food hall and an outfield berm for open-air seating. Capacity is set at roughly 6,000 fans for baseball, with room to expand to about 7,000 for concerts and other large events.
How it was paid for
Financing the new ballpark meant blending private money with public help. OPB reports that the Hops organization lined up about $112 million in private financing and roughly $41 million in public contributions, bringing the project total to around $153 million. Earlier in the process, rising construction and design expenses nudged the estimate from an initial $120 million concept toward about $150 million, according to the Business Tribune.
Why a new park was needed
Major League Baseball’s updated facility standards for High-A teams were the big push behind Hillsboro’s timeline. Across Minor League Baseball, clubs have been upgrading parks to meet tougher rules on health, safety and player support spaces, a trend covered by SportsBusiness Journal. Local city project documents note that retrofitting the old ballpark to meet those standards would have cost more than building a new stadium on the same campus.
Community trade-offs
Public participation in the funding package did not land quietly. Residents and local observers have argued over how transient lodging taxes and other public contributions should be spent. Coverage from lost three youth fields at the Gordon Faber complex has highlighted that the new ballpark displaced existing community ballfields and reduced available hours for local play. The city is working on ways to replace those lost fields, including plans to redevelop the Washington County Fairgrounds, according to the Hillsboro Herald.
What’s next
The countdown is on. Opening Day at the new park is set for April 7, when the Hops will host the Spokane Indians, according to the team, and the club has indicated it will roll out a concert schedule in the coming weeks. MiLB covered the team’s preview event under the new lights, while OPB has noted the venue’s ambitions as a regional concert stop and teased more announcements to come.
