In 1912 or 1913, Covington city leaders tried to acquire a baseball franchise in the Class D Blue Grass League. The Cincinnati Reds, whose ballpark was just 5 miles (8 km) away across the Ohio River, blocked the move. Instead, after several larger cities backed out, Covington was awarded a franchise in the Federal League, a new "outlaw" circuit.

The city raised $13,500, with $6,000 budgeted to build the ballpark. Bernard Wisenall, a prominent local architect, designed Federal Park (also called Riverbreeze Park) with a capacity of 6,000. The playing field—bounded by East 2nd Street, East 3rd Street, Madison Avenue and Scott Boulevard—was tiny, possibly the smallest ever built for any pro baseball park. Its dimensions were just 194 feet down the right-field line, 267 feet to dead center, and 218 feet down the left-field line. Modern rules dictate no pro ballpark may have a fence closer than 325 feet, even down the foul lines; for comparison, Howard J. Lamade Stadium, the site of Little League Baseball's World Series, has 225-foot distances down the foul lines. Construction did not begin until a month before opening day.

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