When Bill "Hardpan" Lane relocated his Hollywood Stars from the Los Angeles area in 1936, to become the San Diego Padres, he arranged for the Works Progress Administration to rebuild the venue as a baseball park.

Attendance was boosted by a PCL pennant winning team and the attraction of budding young local star Ted Williams.

On October 7, 1945, three African-American players from the California Winter League's "Kansas City Royals," one of them named Jackie Robinson, worked out at an empty Lane Field.

Look magazine photographer Maurice Terrell surreptitiously photographed the action from the stands by agreement with Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey, who was planning to desegregate Major League Baseball and wanted illustrations for a planned exclusive feature article written by Arthur Mann.

The article and photos would have highlighted Robinson and other stars from the Negro leagues, and was meant to accompany Rickey's announcement of signing them to the Dodgers.

The wooden park, so near the waterfront in a presumably picturesque setting, was also constantly in need of repair and replacement of its boards, which tended to rot quickly in the sea air.