A Dyersville man hopes to buy the Field of Dreams movie site — with the help of several hundred fans. Joe Scherrman is no stranger to the famous field. For many years, he traveled with the Ghostplayers to film their trips and events around the world, footage from which can now be seen in a recently-released award-winning documentary called “Ghostplayers: Relive the Magic.”
Scherrman is organizing an effort to buy the movie site, which was put up for sale this spring. The asking price of $5.4 million is too much for one person, he says, but Scherrman believes splitting the cost between many people could be a great solution. About 4,000 people subscribe to the Ghostplayers newsletter and he notes if just 3,000 of them put in $2,000 each, that would total six-million dollars.
He’s put out word to the group and says he’s getting many positive responses from people interested in investing or contributing to the purchase of the site. Potential offers add up to $160,000, from people all over Iowa and the Midwest, California, New York, Canada, and even Japan and China. Scherrman says there are discussions underway about improvements that could be made to the Field of Dreams.
Ideas include removing the souvenir stands and making it a single lane back to the baseball diamond and the farmstead — just like it appeared in the film. On the other side of a hill, they could build an entire complex, including several diamonds, but have it out of view. Scherrman says they now have a group of people investigating the proper way to create a fund to buy and maintain the tourism site.
They’ve been talking with organizers of a Green Bay Packers facility in Wisconsin. It’s a totally fan-based, non-profit group so the investors wouldn’t get any return, versus dealing with investors in a for-profit group where money could be made. If you’re interested in owning a piece of the Field of Dreams, contact Scherrman by email at “[email protected]”.
By Janelle Tucker, KMCH, Manchester