Rosenblatt Stadium began renovation in late July after being reopened during the 2012 College World Series for fans to visit again.The Omaha Cardinals had spent the 1947 and 1948 seasons playing their home games across the Missouri River, at the American Legion Park in Council Bluffs, Iowa.In 1964, the stadium was renamed to honor former mayor Johnny Rosenblatt (1907–1979), who was instrumental in bringing professional baseball and the College World Series to Omaha.O'Connor is a native of Council Bluffs, Iowa and was a CWS participant at Rosenblatt as a pitcher for Creighton in '91, as an assistant with Notre Dame in '02, and with Virginia as their head coach in 2009 and 2011.[4] Although the stadium's size was not an issue for the College World Series, expansions over the years made it far too large for a Triple-A team.The Royals had named multiple other cities with whom they had discussed relocation, but decided to stay in the greater Omaha area with the construction of Werner Park in Sarpy County, Nebraska, which opened in 2011.The group was composed primarily of governmental spending critics and homeowners near Rosenblatt Stadium who stood to lose money from the loss of proximity of the College World Series.On April 30, 2009, the city and the NCAA agreed on a memorandum of understanding, outlining a preliminary agreement to keep the World Series in Omaha for another 25 years through 2035.In June 2012, the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo Foundation opened Rosenblatt to the public during the 2012 College World Series.The adjacent Henry Doorly Zoo purchased control of the land and remodeled Rosenblatt once the new downtown stadium was completed.