Tuesday, March 28, 2000
Ballpark leaves retro behind
Latest designs show off unique, modern features
BY DAN KLEPAL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The Reds new ballpark will not mimic those “retro” baseball stadiums in Baltimore or Texas, which go out of their way to look old before their time while offering all the modern luxuries fans expect.
There will be no pillared grandstands or manual scoreboard when the Reds new home opens in 2003.
Instead, fans will see a modern ballpark for modern times — a sleek building with an open outfield that will offer sweeping views of the Ohio River and Northern Kentucky skyline.
Reds Chief Operating Officer John Allen said the intent was never to build the second coming of Crosley Field, the Reds home in the West End until 1970, when Riverfront Stadium opened.
“We just want to have something that can't be copied anywhere else,” Mr. Allen said. “We wanted to make sure it isn't like all the other parks.”
The latest drawings of the 42,500-seat ballpark, presented at a Hamilton County Commission meeting Monday, seem to fit the bill.
Michael Hand says the ballpark offers several architectural features that will make it unique to Cincinnati.
Mr. Hand is vice president for HOK Sport, the Kansas City, Mo., company that is designing the stadium. He said about 85 percent of the stadium's design is finished, but some of what has already been designed might change as the Reds look for ways to save money.
With its current design, the ballpark would cost about 5 percent more than the $210 million the team and county want to spend on construction. (It'll cost another $70 million once fees for architects and construction managers are figured in.)
Mr. Hand said $10 million won't be that difficult to cut.
“It's a minor cost difference,” Mr. Hand said. “So we believe we are pretty close to what the ballpark ought to be.”
One of the ideas left on the cutting-room floor — although not for cost reasons — was the notion of a short home run fence in right field.
Reds officials had talked about having right field end just 316 feet away from home plate, which would have made it one of the shortest home run porches in Major League Baseball.
Mr. Allen said National League officials didn't like the idea without making the fence in right field much taller. The Reds didn't want that for fear that it would block the view of the river.
It doesn't matter, Mr. Allen said, because left-handed power hitters Ken Griffey Jr. and Sean Casey will be able to hit the ball over the 325-foot fence in right field just fine.
“I'm sure they will,” Mr.
Allen said, adding that the configuration is pretty standard at most Major League ballparks.
Other design elements unveiled Monday include:
• Light stands that sit atop tripod towers. This is one element of the ballpark that will look old-fashioned. But the lights themselves will be high-powered, high-tech marvels.
Mr. Hand said that the lights are cutting-edge technology that will be necessary for proper illumination for high-definition television.
• Similar to the light stands, the scoreboard will sit on white pillars that rise out of the Firstar Center's plaza. The video unit from Cinergy Field will be used in the new scoreboard, and a mural may decorate its back side.
The scoreboard also will block out the view of the Firstar Center for some fans.
• A “notch” cut in the upper seating bowl will align perfectly with Sycamore Street and give people walking downtown a view right through the stadium.
• Along the third base line will be an open concourse inside the seating bowl. That means fans will be able to buy a hotdog and be only a few steps away from game action.
The concourse along the first base line and behind home plate will be behind the seating bowl, like at most stadiums.
• The stadium club restaurant in the right field corner will offer sweeping views of the river, Kentucky and whatever develops to the west of the stadium.
• The Firstar Center's plaza will snuggle up to the stadium's outer wall and offer limited views inside. That will provide a “sense of connection” to the city.
Mr. Hand said that a wind study will be conducted, mainly to ensure fan comfort but also to make sure swirling winds don't play tricks with fly balls.
The Reds will tip their caps to Crosley Field in a couple of ways, although Mr. Allen declined to say just what is planned.
All of that is being looked at now as potential savings, and he didn't want to announce an idea that might not be incorporated in the final design.
“Some things, when people see them, will remind them of Crosley,” Mr. Allen said. “From the Reds' standpoint, we don't want to see anything deleted that is a potential source of revenue.
“Then it's just a matter of looking at alternatives — do you use this type of material or another.”
One of the materials not yet decided upon is the stadium's outer facade.
“It will be durable, that's about all I can say,” Mr. Hand said.
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