ZION, Ill. — It was a cool day in early November, but thoughts of summer and baseball were foremost on everyone’s mind just across the Wisconsin state line on Thursday afternoon.

The Lake County Fielders, the newest member of the independent Northern League, held an official groundbreaking ceremony for their $17 million, 8,000-seat new ballpark, which is being built at the corner of Ninth Street and Green Bay Road.

It’s only 217 days until the Fielders’ home opener on June 11 vs. the Gary (Ind.) Southshore Railcats, the first of 48 regular-season home games.

Borrowing “bits and pieces” from various minor and major-league stadiums he has visited over the years, Fielders managing partner/president Rich Ehrenreich said the yet-to-be-named ballpark will be “different ... but functional” for fans.

Ballpark financing details have not been made public.

Big league influences

Some of the amenities will include a three-level suite tower on the third-base side similar to that at Petco Park in San Diego; a Fenway Park-inspired two rows behind the traditional box seats and extending from dugout to dugout in which fans sit on bar stools with a table-top in front of them to place food and drinks; lawn seating; a hot tub down the right-field line, a concert stage in center field; various party/picnic areas and a year-round restaurant/banquet facility.

“You could come to this ballpark 20 times and never have the same experience,” said Werner Brisske, whose Partners in Design firm is the ballpark’s lead architect and which also designed the LakeView RecPlex in Pleasant Prairie.

Another thing fans will enjoy is a good on-field product, according to Northern League commissioner Clark C. Griffith.

Minutes after Illinois state representative (61st district) Jo Ann Osmond expressed her excitement about the new team and ballpark and identified herself as a diehard Cubs fan, Griffith proclaimed to a roomful of laughter, “I will guarantee you that the Lake County Fielders will win a pennant before the Cubs. We’re very, very serious about playing very good baseball.”

Though on-site work began this summer, excavation has yet to begin, said Ehrenreich, who is also the founder and longtime owner of the Schaumburg (Ill.) Flyers Professional Baseball Club.

Timeline solid

But fans shouldn’t worry about the date of the home opener being pushed back, Ehrenreich said.

“I can only tell you being in the meetings with the contractors and the developer, everybody feels good about the timeline,” he said.

Zion mayor Lane Harrison said it’s too early to put a number on the economic impact the team and ballpark will have for businesses in Lake County and Kenosha County. But he said 150 full-time and up to another 100 part-time jobs are expected to be created as a result of the new team.

Academy Award-winning actor Kevin Costner, one of the Fielders’ primary owners, did not attend Thursday’s festivities. But with some financial backing by Costner and Ehrenreich’s vast experience in minor-league baseball, Harrison said the Fielders are in position to succeed.

“You’re not dealing with somebody who is saying, ‘This is what we could do or this is what we might do.’ He’s saying, ‘This is what we can do,’ ” Harrison said. “That’s the beauty of dealing with Mr. Ehrenreich.”

A corny entrance

Fielders general manager Ben Burke said the ballpark will have another feature familiar to baseball fans who enjoy the 1989 film “Field of

Dreams” in which Costner starred.

“We’re going to have the corn field that the players will walk through to take the field before the game,” Burke said. “... It’ll be different than any other minor-league park that anyone’s ever seen.”

Carmelo Tenuta, president of Kenosha-based Sports Physical Therapy and Rehab Specialists — the Fielders’ official athletic training staff and a corporate sponsor of fireworks nights — was one of several guests Thursday who couldn’t wait for baseball season to arrive.

“We’re very excited. We’ve been a health-care provider for 18 years in Kenosha, and we’ve always dealt with youth sports, high school sports, college sports,” he said. “Now, we have an opportunity to participate at a higher level, so for us it’s a big deal.”