Luther Williams Field has the right aged character to star in ‘Brockmire’

Macon’s Luther Williams Field is getting the star treatment once again.

It is being filmed for “Brockmire,” a series coming to IFC next year. The baseball stadium, built in 1929, has been the backdrop for at least three television or movie sets in recent years.

“Brockmire” location manager Jason Underwood said the field is in fantastic shape and has held on to its roots as a classic baseball stadium.

“We chose Luther Williams because it has a wonderful patina of age ... it has really worn into its own character and it is a place unto itself,” he said.

Underwood said other Georgia minor league stadiums like Coolray Field, where the Gwinnett Braves play, and State Mutual Stadium, where the Rome Braves play, were considered. However, neither one contained the same amount of aged character that Luther Williams Field has. He said three high schools and a softball complex also were considered, but Macon and Luther Williams just seemed to be the best fit.

Underwood said he could see more on-location filming done in Macon in the coming years.

“The preservation efforts that have been undertaken so far that have kept Macon intact in a way that Atlanta was not kept intact, offer a lot of opportunity for on-location filming,” Underwood said. “But it has to be the right show and the right time.”

The field was a baseball filming destination of 2012’s “Trouble With the Curve” starring Clint Eastwood and the 2013 Jackie Robinson biopic “42.” It’s the second-oldest minor league baseball stadium in the country, according to www.tourgeorgiafilm.com.

Luther Williams Field was last renovated in 1991 and saw its last playing days in 2007 as home to the Macon Music minor league baseball team. It was featured in a 10-episode documentary series called “Playing for Peanuts” in a matchup of the South Georgia Peanuts versus Macon Music.

This story was originally published June 29, 2016 at 8:12 PM with the headline "Luther Williams Field has the right aged character to star in ‘Brockmire’."