Historic Dodgertown Visitor Guide, Vero Beach

Historic Dodgertown is now the Jackie Robinson Training Complex, a Major League Baseball campus at 3901 26th Street in Vero Beach where the Dodgers held spring training for 60 years, from 1948 to 2008.

MLB announced on April 2, 2019 that Historic Dodgertown would be renamed the Jackie Robinson Training Complex and run as a year-round hub for amateur baseball and softball, having assumed operational control on January 2 of that year (MLB press release). The same release calls it the first fully integrated spring training site in the South and lists Holman Stadium, four more full-size baseball fields, four softball and youth baseball fields and eight indoor, lighted batting and pitching tunnels.

The complex office answers at (772) 569-4900 and by email at [email protected]; the mailing address is P.O. Box 2887, Vero Beach, FL 32961 (Jackie Robinson Training Complex contact page). Indian River County bought the land and facilities from the Los Angeles Dodgers on August 29, 2001 (JRTC timeline, 2000s), so the campus MLB now runs stands on land the county bought from the team. Last verified: October 14, 2026, on the Jackie Robinson Training Complex contact, FAQ, directions and history pages.

Visitors can enter the Jackie Robinson Training Complex, usually free on non-tournament days, while tournaments carry an admission fee that typically averages $5 per person per day.

The JRTC FAQ says there is no parking fee for JRTC-organized events, though some visiting groups charge for parking, so the complex asks visitors to call the Registration Desk at (772) 569-4900 to learn what is happening on a given day (Jackie Robinson Training Complex FAQ). Bleachers sit at each field, and small portable chairs and pop-up tents are allowed at the complex's discretion. The pool, recreation areas and fitness room are only for guests staying on the Vero Beach campus.

Practical points matter on a Dodgertown visit. No medical personnel work on site, outside grills are not allowed, and alcohol is barred around fields, cages and practice areas (JRTC policies). During spring training the gift shop keeps hours of 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and the Building 5 team store 3:30 to 8 p.m. (spring training information). Because admission depends on the event, the Dodgertown front desk is the first call before driving out.

Dodgertown sits on 26th Street (Aviation Boulevard) across from Vero Beach Regional Airport, reached from Interstate 95 Exit 147 by driving about 6 miles east on Route 60 to 43rd Avenue.

MLB's directions run from I-95 east on Route 60 to 43rd Avenue, left on 43rd Avenue, then right at the first light onto 26th Street; take the first available right and follow it to the third entrance on the right, where the registration office is on the left and visitor parking on the right (JRTC location and directions). From the west coast, Route 60 east leads to the same 43rd Avenue turn.

The JRTC lists Vero Beach Regional Airport as served by Breeze Airways and American Airlines. The city-owned airport and the Dodgertown campus share their history: both stood on Naval Air Station Vero Beach during World War II (Vero Beach Regional Airport FAQ).

Dodgertown is a civil rights landmark because on March 31, 1948, the Brooklyn Dodgers, with Jackie Robinson, played their first game at what the state's Florida Heritage Landmark marker calls the South's first racially integrated spring training camp.

The Walter O'Malley official website notes that the date came 21 years before Vero Beach schools were integrated, and that in Jim Crow era Florida playing and staying at Dodgertown made the Dodgers MLB's first fully integrated spring training site in the South (Walter O Malley official website). Dodger President Branch Rickey had moved camps abroad in 1947 (Havana) and 1948 (Ciudad Trujillo) because Robinson had faced prejudice in Sanford, Florida, in 1946. Before the first Vero Beach games on March 31 and April 1, curiosity ran high among local townspeople and the nearby Black community of Gifford and Fort Pierce to see Robinson, the same site says.

Seating at the Vero Beach ballpark was integrated later: in 1962, as Director of Dodgertown, Peter O'Malley integrated Holman Stadium, according to the same site. Florida recognized Historic Dodgertown as a Florida Heritage Landmark in 2014, and a signage monument was installed at the walkway to the campus Conference Center (JRTC timeline, 2010s). The marker, unveiled in November 2014, reads that Dodgertown was the South's first racially integrated spring training camp (Walter O Malley site on the Civil Rights Trail honor). MLB's 2019 release notes the complex had recently joined the U.S. Civil Rights Trail.

Dodgertown grew out of Naval Air Station Vero Beach: after World War II, airport director Bud Holman approached the Brooklyn Dodgers about the vacated base, the Dodgers chose it in 1947, and camp opened in 1948.

The Vero Beach Regional Airport FAQ says the Navy expanded the 1930 municipal airport to about 2,300 acres during the war for dive bomber and night fighter training, deeded it back to the City in 1947, and later sold land with FAA approval to Piper Aircraft, the Brooklyn Dodgers and FlightSafety International (Vero Beach Regional Airport FAQ). The City of Vero Beach historic preservation page records that the Dodgers selected the former Naval Air Station as their permanent spring training facility in 1947 (City of Vero Beach historic preservation). MLB credits Bud Holman, local businessman and Airport Director, with the approach, and Holman Stadium opened in 1953 (Holman Stadium history).

The years after the Dodgers left Vero Beach were uncertain. MLB's timeline says the final Dodgers spring game at Holman Stadium was March 17, 2008, against the Houston Astros, before the team moved to Glendale, Arizona, and that in December 2008 Indian River County officials decided to shutter the facility (JRTC timeline, 2000s). Minor League Baseball reopened it in May 2009 as Vero Beach Sports Village, and in 2012 Peter O'Malley formed a partnership to manage the site on a lease from Indian River County (JRTC timeline, 2010s).

In 2026 Dodgertown hosts visiting teams for spring training and youth tournaments, plus the Andre Dawson Classic, MLB's tournament for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, played at Holman Stadium.

The 2026 Andre Dawson Classic ran February 20 to 22 at the Vero Beach complex, with Jackson State, Texas Southern, Southern, Grambling State, Alabama State, Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman among the teams on the Holman Stadium schedule (Andre Dawson Classic page). The JRTC welcomes teams for a spring training season of baseball and softball (spring training information), and its site lists baseball, football, lacrosse, rowing, rugby, soccer, softball and swimming among the sports it books.

Holman Stadium has had a major renovation. MLB lists a complete seating bowl replacement with 6,478 new seats, a full field replacement with Celebration sod, new mounds, home plates and bullpens, new irrigation and drainage and new padded fencing (Holman Stadium improvements). The Florida Heritage Landmark marker, established by the conference center at the November 10, 2014 dedication, still rests on a walkway at the complex (marker location).