Tuesday, June 22, 1999Ballpark called fan-friendly
Plan puts seats closer to field
BY LUCY MAY
The Cincinnati EnquirerThe seats will be much closer to the action, the food will be better, and the lines for the bathrooms shouldn't be quite so long.
For fans, the Reds' new riverfront ballpark will offer a completely different baseball experience than Cinergy Field, architects told Hamilton County commissioners Monday.
In fact, if the architects have their way, the $297 million ballpark will offer some of the best seats in baseball when it opens in 2003.
“I think it's going to be an absolutely surprising experience for longtime Reds fans,” said Mike Hand, vice president for HOK Sport, the Kansas City-based architectural firm designing the ballpark.
Mr. Hand and Chris Beghtel of GBBN Architects, a local firm working with HOK Sport, presented commissioners Tom Neyer Jr. and Bob Bedinghaus with designs showing dimensions of the new ballpark. Commissioner John Dowlin is on vacation.
Mr. Hand stressed the designs are preliminary and have not yet been approved by the Reds. In addition, the project's construction manager has not figured out how much the proposed ballpark will cost.
In September, the architects expect to have a clearer picture of what the outside of the ballpark will look like and its cost.
The commissioners were impressed.
“Some of those behind-the-home-plate seats are going to be incredible places to watch a ballgame from,” Mr. Bedinghaus said.
Mr. Neyer said he wants to make sure the ballpark will have other uses.
A themed restaurant over left field — with views of the playing field, the river and Northern Kentucky — is the kind of amenity that could be used year-round for wedding receptions or other events, Mr. Hand said.
“It's got to be more than just a ballpark,” Mr. Neyer said. “I love baseball, but it is just one entertainment option that's available to residents of this community.”
Features in the preliminary design include:
• 300 premium seats on the field level behind home plate will be about 10 feet closer to the field than the closest seats in Cinergy Field now.
• Another 800 to 1,000 premium seats will be immediately above those seats. Architects are calling them “red seats.”
• An open courtyard space about the size of Fountain Square will serve as the ballpark's main east entrance. Even on days when no games are being played, fans will be able to walk on that plaza and get a glimpse of the field.
• Mr. Hand said the planned dimensions of the field, especially the short right field requested by the Reds, make the new facility “a good offensive ballpark.”
• The upper deck bowl could have a gap, which officials called “a window to down town.” The gap in seating would make the ballpark more visible from downtown.
• Roughly 16,010 seats will be located in the ballpark's lower level between the two foul poles. That's more than one-third of the planned 44,396 seats.
The designs also showed the new ballpark will fit on the tight site just west of Firstar Center, and construction will not necessarily disturb Cinergy's playing field.
Part of Cinergy Field will have to be demolished for construction of the new ballpark to begin while the Reds continue to play in their current home. Architects estimate about one-third of Cinergy's 3,300-space garage and as many as 12,000 seats will be torn down.
Architects are talking about moving the outfield wall 8 feet, however, to create more room for construction equipment, said Dan Streyle, the project manager for the new ballpark.
Such a move would require approval from Major League Baseball, Mr. Hand said.
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