Holman Stadium (Nashua)

Not to be confused with Holman Stadium (Vero Beach).

Coordinates: 42°46′8.71″N 71°28′23.50″W / 42.7690861°N 71.4731944°W

Holman Stadium
Historic Holman Stadium
Location Nashua, NH
Owner City of Nashua
Capacity Baseball - 4,375
Field size Left Field: 307 ft
Center Field: 401 ft
Right Field: 315 ft
Surface Grass
Construction
Opened September 23, 1937
Renovated 2002
Tenants
Nashua Silver Knights (Futures Collegiate Baseball League) (2011-present)
American Defenders of New Hampshire (Can-Am League) (2009)
Nashua Pride (Atlantic League/Can-Am League) (1998-2008)
Nashua Hawks (North Atlantic League) (1995-1996)
Nashua Pirates (Eastern League) (1984-1986)
Nashua Angels (Eastern League)
(1983)
Nashua Dodgers (New England League) (1946-1949)

Holman Stadium is a baseball stadium in Nashua, New Hampshire. It was constructed in 1937, as a multi-purpose stadium, by the City of Nashua. The official seating capacity is 4,375 people. Holman is currently the home of the Nashua Silver Knights of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League. The Silver Knights are operated by the Lowell Spinners of the New York – Penn League (Single A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox)

History

The stadium is named for Charles Frank Holman, who contributed $55,000 for the project. Holman Stadium, which also was funded by money made available by the federal government during the Great Depression, was dedicated to the youth and people of Nashua in memory of Holman's parents. Philip S. Avery, a Nashua native, was chosen as the architect. Holman Stadium was upgraded in 2002, from a plain seating bowl to a stadium with luxury boxes and a press box on top of the grandstand.

The city-owned stadium was home to several farm teams for Major League Baseball organizations, including the California Angels, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Brooklyn Dodgers. Holman hosted what is considered the first integrated U.S. baseball team in the modern era, when Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe played for the then-Nashua Dodgers in 1946. While home to the Nashua Pirates in 1985, Holman Stadium hosted the Eastern League All-Star Game.[1]

A non-affiliated team, the Nashua Hawks of the North Atlantic League, played at Holman Stadium earlier in the 1990s; its tenure at Holman Stadium ended with mid-season eviction for nonpayment of rent.

In 1996, Holman Stadium was a site for celebrations along the Olympic Torch Relay route. The stop in Nashua was the first live internet broadcast of the Torch Relay, as well as the first internet broadcast featuring high-speed wireless Ethernet, as well as wired, technology. To view the broadcast, "World Wide Web users [were required to] log into www.isystems.com/torch and download the free demo Enhanced Cu-SeeMe software well before the event."[2]

In 1998 Holman Stadium became home to the Nashua Pride, a baseball team in the independent Atlantic League. In 2003 Holman Stadium hosted the Atlantic League All-Star Game. In 2006, the Pride switched to the Can-Am League, and in 2008 the team was sold and renamed the American Defenders of New Hampshire. Designer/ Contractor team Brian and Melissa Zagorites of ZMasterBuilders donated a $45,000. makeover to the skyboxes for the city of Nashua during the American Defenders season. The Defenders played a partial season in the stadium in 2009 The team moved to Pittsfield, Massachusetts in 2010 to become the Pittsfield Colonials.

In 2011 the Nashua Silver Knights brought baseball back to Holman Stadium. In 2012 Holman Stadium hosted the inaugural FCBL All-Star Game.

The stadium has hosted concerts by many famous artists, including Elvis Costello, Bob Dylan, Tina Turner, and Whitney Houston, among others.

References

  1. ↑ "All-Stars here July 15". Nashua Telegraph. 1985-04-18. p. A9. Retrieved 2011-08-26.
  2. ↑ "Live Internet broadcast features Olympic Torch Relay; Another first for New Hampshire". Business Wire. Retrieved 16 April 2013.

Sources

External links