| Alliance Bank Stadium | |
|---|---|
| Former names | P&C Stadium (1997-2005) |
| Location | 1 Tex Simone Drive Syracuse, NY 13208 |
| Broke ground | July 1995 |
| Opened | April 10, 1997 |
| Owner | Onondaga County, NY |
| Operator | Onondaga County Parks |
| Surface | AstroTurf (1997-2007) Grass (2008-present) |
| Construction cost | $32 million USD ($21.9 million in 2012 dollars[1]) |
| Architect | HOK Sport[2] |
| Structural engineer | Klepper, Hahn & Hyatt[2] |
| General Contractor | J.D. Taylor/Bovis Construction[2] |
| Capacity | 11,071[3] |
| Field dimensions | Left field: 330 feet (100 m) Center field: 400 feet (120 m) Right field: 330 feet (100 m) |
| Tenants | |
| Syracuse Chiefs (IL) (1997-present) Syracuse Salty Dogs (USL-1) (2003-2004) |
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Alliance Bank Stadium is an 11,071-seat minor league baseball stadium in Syracuse, New York. The stadium opened on April 10, 1997, replacing the aging MacArthur Stadium which had been home to Syracuse's professional baseball team since 1934. The stadium was previously known as P&C Stadium, a name derived from P&C Foods, the regional brand of supermarkets run by then Syracuse-based Penn Traffic Corporation.
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The stadium is home to the Syracuse Chiefs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. The field's outfield dimensions are 330 feet (100 m) to left field, 400 feet (120 m) to center field, and 330 feet (100 m) to right field.
The stadium has a seating capacity of 11,071 people.[4] In addition to regular seating, the stadium also offers luxury suites and a banquet room. The luxury suites are available in three different sized configurations and all include indoor and outdoor seating options as well as optional stadium-provided catering.[5] The stadium's banquet room is named after Hank Sauer, who played with the Chiefs in the 1940s prior to going on to excel in the Major Leagues and eventually have his number retired by the Chiefs. The room is near the right field foul pole and is available to rent year-round.[6]
From its opening through the 2007 season, the stadium's playing surface was AstroTurf, mainly due to the team's then-affiliation with the Toronto Blue Jays who used the artificial surface in their ballpark. However, after the 2007 season, the Astro Turf was removed and replaced with natural grass.[7]
A record for baseball attendance was set May 7th, 2010, when 13,766 people came to the park for Stephen Strasburg's AAA debut. [8]
Parking in the main lots for the 2011 season of Chiefs baseball is $5.00 usd per car.
The former soccer club Syracuse Salty Dogs of the United Soccer Leagues' A-League also called the stadium home for two seasons. Though they were very popular with fans and had very high attendance, their relationships with the Chiefs and Onondaga County were not positive and the team ceased operations after their second season.
In 2009, the stadium played host to the first two national concerts held at the stadium since 2000 when The Allman Brothers Band played there.[9]
On July 19, 2009, the stadium hosted 7,124 fans who came to see Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, and John Mellencamp perform.[10][11]
Two weeks after the Bob Dylan concert, on August 4, Dave Matthews Band was scheduled to perform at the stadium.[12] Stadium management said they used lessons learned during the smaller-scale Dylan show to make the much larger-scale Dave Matthews Band show as smooth as possible[10]. The show drew over 18,000 fans and was considered a great success, possibly paving the way for more concerts at the stadium in the years to come.[13]
Following the success of the 2008 and 2009 NHL Winter Classic outdoor hockey games, Syracuse Crunch owner Howard Dolgan started expressing his interest in holding a similar event in Syracuse. Alliance Bank stadium was the logical location to hold such an event since it is the only outdoor professional sports venue in the area. The Crunch estimated the cost of such an event to be between $850,000 and $1.05 million.[14]
That being the case, Dolgan decidede to ask the Onondaga County legislature for some financial help in putting on the event. Dolgan argued that since the event was expected to bring many out of town hockey fans to Syracuse, the county could use $350,000 of money set aside "specifically to promote tourism and to attract out-of-town dollars to Syracuse".[15] The money in that fund is collected as a tax on hotel rooms in the county and could be replenished by the people coming in from out-of-town for the hockey game. However, the legislature voted 16-2 to not provide the $350,000 in funding and instead approved a total $75,000 in funding. Prior to the legislature's vote, Dolgan stated publicly that without the $350,000, the game would not go on.[15] After the vote, Dolgan immediately turned the money down, stating:
We're not doing an outdoor game. I'll tell ya, besides disappointing the fans and, of course, our organization, I can tell you about 10-12 prominent companies in Syracuse who are not going to be happy because the idiots who voted the way they did. And I don't mind saying that word. What are they going to do? Get mad at me and vote against something else I want to do?[15]
Eventually, the game was held at the New York State Fairgrounds on Saturday, February 20, 2010, as the "Mirabito Outdoor Classic".
During the 2009 International League Season, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees were forced to postpone eleven games due to drainage problems at their home park, PNC Field.[16][17] In an effort to allow groundskeepers ample time to repair the field, the Yankees decided to relocate four of their home games. Two of these games, both against the Buffalo Bisons, were moved to Syracuse.[18]
| Preceded by MacArthur Stadium |
Home of the Syracuse Chiefs 1997 – present |
Succeeded by Current |
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