BB&T Ballpark (Winston-Salem, North Carolina)

BB&T Ballpark (Winston-Salem)
Location 951 Ballpark Way
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
Coordinates 36°05′30″N 80°15′21″W / 36.091602°N 80.255962°WCoordinates: 36°05′30″N 80°15′21″W / 36.091602°N 80.255962°W
Owner City of Winston-Salem
Operator Winston-Salem Dash LLC
Capacity 5,500
Field size Left Field: 315 feet
Center Field: 399 feet
Right Field: 323 feet[1]
Surface Grass
Construction
Broke ground October 30, 2007
Opened April 10, 2010
Construction cost $48.7 million[2]
($52.7 million in 2015 dollars[3])
Architect 360 Architecture
CJMW Architecture
Structural engineer City Structures D&P, Inc.[4]
General contractor Samet Construction[2]
Tenants
Winston-Salem Dash (CL) (2010–present)

BB&T Ballpark[5] is a ballpark in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, that replaced Ernie Shore Field. It is primarily used for baseball, and is the home field of the Winston-Salem Dash minor league baseball team.

The ballpark is bounded by Peters Creek Parkway (northwest/west); 1st Street (north); and Green Street (northeast, left-center field). Business I-40 is toward the south/southeast.

History

It was originally planned to open for the 2009 season. Various delays pushed it to mid-2009, and then to the 2010 season. Oversights such as the budget, by city planners, were reported to be the cause.[6]

The first home game was played on April 13, 2010, against the Potomac Nationals, resulting in a 5-4 loss in 12 innings, before 7,111 spectators.[7] At the end of its first season, the stadium was named Ballpark of the Year by Baseballparks.com.[8]

Naming Rights

On February 24, 2010, the Dash announced that Winston-Salem based bank BB&T had signed a 15-year naming rights deal for the new ballpark. BB&T also owns the naming rights for fellow Winston-Salem Entertainment-Sports Complex venue BB&T Field, home to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team.[9]

This is the second ballpark in the Carolina League sponsored by BB&T. The first was BB&T Coastal Field, home to the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. BB&T also sponsors the uptown stadium for the Charlotte Knights which opened in the spring of 2014.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "BB&T Ballpark". Ballpark Digest. April 10, 2010. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Building for the Future: Minor League Stadiums". SportsBusiness Journal. April 19, 2009. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  3. ↑ Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–2014. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved February 27, 2014.
  4. ↑ "BB&T Ballpark". City Structures D&P, Inc. Retrieved September 24, 2011.
  5. ↑ "Downtown Stadium to be BB&T Ballpark". Minor League Baseball. February 24, 2010. Retrieved February 24, 2010.
  6. ↑ Graff, Laura (May 6, 2009). "Extra Innings, and Still No Winner - Sources: Ballpark Not Likely to Open This Year". Winston-Salem Journal. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Nats Take BB&T Ballpark Opener with 5-4 Win". Minor League Baseball. April 14, 2010. Retrieved April 18, 2010.
  8. ↑ Mock, Joe (August 28, 2010). "BB&T Ballpark Definitely Worth the Wait". Baseball Parks. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
  9. ↑ Carver, Richard (February 24, 2010). "Spreading the name: BB&T Sees Benefit in Affixing Bank's Name to Stadiums Here and Elsewhere". Winston-Salem Journal. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Groundbreaking for New Knights Ballpark Set for Sept. 14". Ballpark Digest. August 24, 2012. Retrieved September 6, 2012.

External links