The idea behind Cheney Stadium was first conceived in 1957 when local businessmen Ben Cheney and Clay Huntington began working to bring Pacific Coast League baseball to Tacoma. In the fall of 1959 the San Francisco Giants met with Tacoma city officials to discuss moving their Triple-A Phoenix club to Tacoma. The Giants committed to the move, provided that Tacoma would construct a stadium in time for April, 1960. The City Council voted 8-1 in favor of building a new stadium in the Snake Lake area (as opposed to renovating the existing Western International League ballpark at South 38th and Lawrence).

The $940,000 project took only three months and 14 days to complete. Ben Cheney (who was also put in total control of the project) provided $100,000 for construction overruns. Wooden grandstand seats and outfield light standards were sent to Tacoma from San Francisco where they had been in place at Seals Stadium. The wooden reserved seats in Cheney Stadium are still the original seats from Seals Stadium.

Upgrades have been periodic over the course of the last 40 plus years. A brand new field was installed prior to the 1998 season. The ticket office was constructed in 1992 and a new backstop and a new sound system were added for the 1999 season.

The first scheduled game was rained out on April 14, 1960. When the game was rescheduled as part of a day/night doubleheader on April 16, the Tacoma Giants lost the inaugural Cheney Stadium game 7-2 to the Portland Beavers. Tacoma took the nightcap by a score of 11-0. The winning pitcher of game two was future Hall of Famer Juan Marichal.