Friday, May 12, 2000
Ballpark questions and answers
By Dan Klepal
The Cincinnati Enquirer
As designed by HOK Sport, a new Reds ballpark will be a radical departure from Cinergy Field, the team's home since 1970. Here are some questions and answers about the ballpark, which is scheduled to open in time for the 2003 baseball season.
Question: Where will the stadium be, exactly?
Answer: It will be bordered by Main Street to the west, Mehring Way to the south, Firstar Center to the east, and Second Street (along with the so-called Ramp LL, connecting to Fort Washington Way) to the north.
Q: Which direction will the ballpark face?
A: Southeast, toward the river and the Northern Kentucky skyline.
Q: Will it be possible to hit a home run into the river?
A: It would have to be a shot of more than 560 feet just to reach Mehring Way. From there, a good bounce could make a splash.
Q: How many seats?
A: Official capacity is 42,060, broken down as follows: 19,134 at field level, 4,290 at club level and upper left field level, 810 suite level, 16,602 upper level. Included in those numbers are 6,700 bleacher seats in the outfield (which will include backs) and 433 wheelchair seats.
Q: How many luxury suites will there be?
A: Sixty-one suites. Three of them will be “party suites” available for larger groups on a single-game basis. The other 58 suites will be about 340 square feet each and will feature 12 or 14 seats outside in the seating bowl.
Q: What are the field dimensions?
A: The right field fence will be 325 feet away from home plate with an eight-foot-high wall. In left field, it's 328 feet with a 12-foot wall. Center field is 404 feet away. The left field and right field power alleys are 379 feet and 370 feet, respectively.
Q: Will fans be closer to the field?
A: The first row of the field-level seats is on the same level as the playing field, actually slightly below. This is unlike Cinergy, where several feet separate fans from the field.
Q: What about the concourses?
A: There will be more concourse area with field views than at Jacobs Field in Cleveland and Coors Field in Denver. You'll be able to walk around the field level with views from most concourse areas to the field.
Q: What about the width of the concourses?
A: In most places, they will be twice as wide as Cinergy's, sometimes three or four times wider.
Q: How about access for the handicapped?
A: The ballpark will be fully accessible, in every price range category of seating.
Q: What's new about the scoreboard?
A: It will be in left field and significantly larger than at Cinergy Field. The video board will will be 35 percent larger. A few smaller scoreboards, known as “ribbon boards” will be installed around the ballpark. Scores from other games will be continuously displayed in the left field wall.
Q: Are there more field-level seats than at Cinergy?
A: The new park will have about 20,000 seats at field level, compared to 10,000 “blue” seats at Cinergy.
Q: What about concessions?
A: There will be one concession window for every 180 fans. At Cinergy now, there is one window for every 300 fans.
Q: And restrooms?
A: For men, about 30 percent more restroom fixtures than at Cinergy. For women, about 50 percent more. There will also be several family restroom facilities around the park.
Q: What kind of field surface?
A: Grass.
Q: How close will the ballpark be to Firstar Center?
A: The Firstar plaza will actually connect to the outer wall of the ballpark. The plaza's higher elevation will grant people walking on the plaza a limited view inside the stadium.
Q: What are those buildings in front of the stadium?
A: Three buildings, separated from the main structure, will make up the facade of the new ballpark. Each will be about three stories tall. Along Main Street will be the Reds store and Hall of Fame. This building will be open year-round, but fans will be able to walk from it to the stadium on game days. There may be another building next to it, in which a restaurant may open, but those plans are not finalized. Along a newly constructed Second Street will be two buildings — one is the Reds administrative offices and the other a front for concessions and restrooms.
Q: What is the Sponsorship Zone and where will it be?
A: This is an interactive game area for families, which will be located in the public plaza area down the first base line. It is unclear if the sponsorship zone will be open on non-game days, although Reds' officials would like that to happen.
Q: What is “The Notch?”
A: This is a cutout in the upper deck to the third-base side of home plate that aligns with Sycamore Street. The idea of The Notch is that people walking along Sycamore at the higher elevation downtown will be able to catch glimpses into the stadium. Architects say it is one of the features of the ballpark that will make it unique to Cincinnati.
Q: What is the Stadium Club?
A: The glass-enclosed restaurant down the first base line, at the very edge of the second level, also known as the suite level. The restaurant will offer sweeping views of the field, the river, and the Roebling Suspension bridge to the west.
Q: What will the ballpark's lights look like?
A: This is one of the few “retro” features of the stadium. The lights will sit atop tripod towers, which was common in early ballparks. But the lights will be cutting-edge technology, the kind needed for illumination for high-definition television. Lights in right field will be on two free-standing tripod towers; lights in left field will rise atop the scoreboard. Four banks of lights on the tripod towers will sit along the first and third base lines.
Q: How much foul territory will there be?
A: Not much. A person sitting in the first row, directly behind home plate, will actually be closer to the batter than the pitcher, because there is only 50 feet of foul ground behind the plate. There is even less — about 10 feet — down the right and left field lines.
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Ballpark questions and answers
