Great American Ball Park - Definition and Overview

Great American Ball Park
Facility Statistics
Location	100 Main Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
Broke Ground	August 1, 2000
Opened	March 31, 2003
Surface	Grass
Owner	Hamilton County
Construction Cost	$290 million USD
Architects	HOK Sport and GBBN Architects (Cincinnati)
Tenants
Cincinnati Reds	2003-present
Seating Capacity
2003	42,059
Dimensions
Left Field	328 ft / 100 m
Left-Center	379 ft / 115.5 m
Center Field	404 ft / 123 m
Right-Center	370 ft / 113 m
Right Field	325 ft / 99 m
Backstop	55 ft / 17 m

Great American Ball Park is the home of the Cincinnati Reds, a member of Major League Baseball's National League, and is located in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio on the Ohio River. The fourth home of baseball's oldest professional team, the downtown park opened on March 28, 2003 for an exhibition game with the Cleveland Indians. It hosted its first regular season game on Opening Day, March 31, 2003 as Former U.S. President George H. W. Bush threw the ceremonial first pitch, and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Reds, 10-1.

During construction, the new stadium was "wedged" into the space between multi-purpose Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium, opened 1970) and the adjacent downtown arena. Cinergy Field was demolished after the 2002 MLB season, and the ballpark is part of an almost entirely revised downtown riverfront, along with Paul Brown Stadium (home of the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals, opened 2000) and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center (opening 2004).

Although not readily apparent, this facility bears a corporate name. The naming rights were acquired by the Great American Insurance Group.

Features

• A 35-foot-(11-meter)-wide break in the stands between home plate and third base -- known as "The Gap" -- is bridged by the concourse on each level (see photo). Aligned with Sycamore Street, it provides views into the stadium from downtown and out to the skyline from within the park.

• In right center field, two riverboat-inspired smoke stacks flash lights, emit smoke and launch fireworks to incite or respond to the home team's efforts.

• The 50-foot-by-20-foot (15 m x 6 m) "Spirit of Baseball" limestone relief carving near the main entrance shows baseball figures of a boy and a man, along with the Cincinnati riverfront.

• Mosaics depicting the 1869 Red Stockings, baseball's first pro team, and the 1975 Big Red Machine club that won the first of two consecutive World Series are just inside the main entrance.

• Panoramas of downtown Cincinnati, Mt. Adams, the Ohio River and Northern Kentucky are visible from most of the park (see photo below).

• At 217 feet, 9 inches (66.4 meters) wide, the scoreboard is the third largest in the Major Leagues (after Colorado and Detroit).

• Four statues -- Joe Nuxhall, Ernie Lombardi, Ted Kluszewski, and Frank Robinson -- representing the Crosley Field era decorate Crosley Terrace, in front of the main entrance.

• A three-piece mural on the back of the scoreboard in left-field pictures the bat and ball from Pete Rose's record-breaking 4,192nd hit.

• The trademark radio sign-off phrase of long-time announcer Joe Nuxhall, "Rounding third and heading for home...", appears on the north side of the stadium, on the back of the third base stands.

The view from "The Gap"

Address

Great American Ball Park

100 Main Street

Cincinnati, Ohio 45202

Statistics

Seat width: 19 inches / 48 cm

Ticket windows: 25

Concourse widths: 40 feet / 12 meters

Escalators: 3

Passenger elevators: 14

Public restrooms: 47 (20 women, 20 men, seven family)

Concession stands: 28

Parking spaces: 850