Harbor Park
| Harbor Park | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location |
150 Park Avenue Norfolk, VA 23510 |
| Broke ground | February 21, 1992[1] |
| Opened | April 14, 1993 |
| Owner | City of Norfolk |
| Operator | Maryland Baseball Holding, LLC. |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction cost |
$16 million ($25.9 million in 2014 dollars[ 1]) |
| Architect | Populous (formerly HOK Sport) |
| Project manager | McDevitt and Street Co.[2] |
| Structural engineer | Kerr Conrad Graham Associates[3] |
| Services engineer | Bredson & Associates, Inc.[4] |
| General contractor | OMNI Construction Inc.[2] |
| Capacity | 12,067 |
| Field dimensions |
Left Field — 333 feet Center Field — 410 feet Right Field — 318 feet |
| Tenants | |
| Norfolk Tides (International League) (1993-Present) | |
Harbor Park is a stadium, used primarily for baseball, on the Elizabeth River, in downtown Norfolk, Virginia. Once rated the best minor league stadium by Baseball America, it is home to the Norfolk Tides minor league baseball team. The Tides are the Baltimore Orioles' AAA farm team and compete in the South division of the International League. Harbor Park opened on April 14, 1993 and can seat 12,067 people.
Features
Seating includes 9,000 lower deck seats, 2,800 upper deck seats and a 300 person capacity picnic area. The stadium also features 24 luxury skyboxes with seating for 400, and a 225 seat full-service restaurant with a panoramic view of the field from the first base side. A record crowd of 14,263 was reached August 31, 1996.
The field is made of natural grass and features a state of the art irrigation and drainage system. The outfield dimensions are 333 feet to the left field foul pole, 410 feet to straightaway center, and 318 down the right field line.
Notable Events
During Major League Baseball's search for a new home for the Montreal Expos, Norfolk submitted a proposal which would have expanded Harbor Park to temporarily accommodate a major league team. Norfolk's bid was rejected and the Expos eventually became the Washington Nationals.
On March 30, 2007, the Washington Nationals played an exhibition game against the Baltimore Orioles at Harbor Park. The game was sold out two weeks in advance; attendance was 12,408.[5]
On October 28, 2008, Barack Obama held a rally at Harbor Park.
On December 16, 2008, the city of Norfolk approved a plan by the Tides to build a party deck in right field, behind the home team's bullpen. Completed in March 2009, two weeks before an Orioles–Nationals exhibition game, the deck holds 400 people but did not increase stadium capacity, except during sold-out games, when the deck accommodates some overflow. The right field fence was moved in 20 feet, to accommodate the deck, setting it at its current distance of 318 feet.[6]
The concert band piece Harbor Park Holiday, written in 1996 by Norfolk native James L. Hosay, was written about Harbor Park.
References
- ↑ "Stadium Starting Lineup". The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk). February 22, 1992. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Robinson, Tom (July 1, 1992). "Omni Submits Lowest Bid for Construction of Tides' Stadium". The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk). Retrieved September 16, 2011.
- ↑ "Ken Olson Experience". LinkedIn. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
- ↑ "Pro Baseball Sports Facilities". Bredson & Associates, Inc. Archived from the original on April 10, 2002. Retrieved August 8, 2013.
- ↑ Radford, Rich (March 31, 2007). "A Painful Win for Area's O's Fans". The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk). Retrieved May 22, 2012.
- ↑ Minium, Harry (December 17, 2008). "Tides Hope to Bring Back the Home Run at Harbor Park". The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk). p. 1, Sports section. Archived from the original on February 15, 2013. Retrieved December 17, 2008.
External links
Pictures
- Harbor Park at worldstadiums.com
- Seating chart
- Hurricane Isabel
Coordinates: 36°50′34.04″N 76°16′43.93″W / 36.8427889°N 76.2788694°W
| Events and tenants | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Met Park |
Home of the Norfolk Tides 1993 – present |
Succeeded by current |
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