Ferris Field, a wooden
baseball park, was adjacent to the parking lot west of the track. Built in 1936, it was the home of the
minor league Spokane Indians through 1956, and was named for city attorney George M. Ferris, a former player and manager for the Indians (at
Natatorium Park) who secured funding from the
Works Progress Administration (WPA) to build it. and it was rebuilt in steel in the spring of 1949. It hosted
high school football in 1948 and 1949, between the condemnation of wooden
Gonzaga Stadium and the opening of Spokane Memorial Stadium in 1950 (renamed
Joe Albi Stadium in 1962). Spokane went without minor league baseball in 1957; the new
Triple-A Spokane Indians of the
Pacific Coast League arrived in 1958 (formerly the
Los Angeles Angels) and moved about a mile (1½ km) east to the new Fairgrounds Park (now
Avista Stadium) on Havana Street. ==Playfair Mile Winners==