For sale: 'Field of Dreams' farm

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DYERSVILLE, Iowa -- In "Field of Dreams," Kevin Costner's character builds a baseball diamond out of a corn field after a voice tells him: "If you build it, he will come."

Well, now he can buy it and so can anyone else.

Don and Becky Lansing, the owners of the site near Dyersville where the field was built by Universal Studios, said Thursday they're selling the property. The asking price is $5.4 million.

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Jonathan Daniel/Getty ImagesThe Lansing family property used in the movie 'Field of Dreams" is now for sale.

The couple said they love the land, which has been in Don Lansing's family for more than a century, but they're ready to retire and give up the property.

"It's really time for us to head to the locker room. Maybe that sounds corny. I don't care," Becky Lansing told The Associated Press. "We really would just love to become spectators. We want to sit in the bleachers. We want to look forward to all that the 'Field of Dreams' will become in the future."

The "Field of Dreams" is in the middle of a cornfield in eastern Iowa. The movie, released in 1989 with Costner as its star, was based on the book "Shoeless Joe" by W.P. Kinsella.

The site has been a popular tourist destination, with the family maintaining the baseball diamond built by Universal. The Lansings purchased the left field and center portions from neighbor Rita Ameskamp in 2007, ending a long-standing split over the commercialization of the site.

Up for sale is the diamond, a two-bedroom house, six outbuildings that include a concession stand, and a 193-acre parcel. The land includes the mystical cornfield where the ghosts of "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, "Moonlight" Graham and others emerge to play ball.

Former major league pitcher Ken Sanders, now a real estate consultant overseeing the sale, said he's already received a number of inquiries about the property.

Sanders said the majority of those who've reached out have shown interest in preserving the property. But he's also heard from people thinking about putting up a hotel, water park and even some contemplating whether to build a minor league ballpark on the site.

There's little doubt, though, that the property's iconic place in sports movie history will help its resale value.

"We are the caretakers of a living piece of sports memorabilia," Becky Lansing said. "This is an organic, living, breathing piece of memorabilia."

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

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