U.S. Cellular Field
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U.S. Cellular Field is the home of Major League Baseball's Chicago White Sox. The stadium opened in 1991 and hosted its first World Series in 2005. The stadium was formerly known as Comiskey Park, but U.S. Cellular purchased the naming rights at $68 million.
[edit] History
The stadium was the first new sports venue built in Chicago since 1929 (The United Center opened in 1994). It was also the first baseball-only park since Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) opened in 1973, and the last built before the recent wave of new "retro-classic" stadiums. However, a few design features from the old park were retained. Most notable among them is the "exploding scoreboard," which is a replica of the one installed by Bill Veeck at the old park in 1960. At the beginning of all games, after a White Sox player hits a home run, and after a White Sox victory, the scoreboard lights up in color and fireworks explode in the sky. The entrance has several arched windows. The Sox Shower, located in left-center field, is a place where fans can cool off during hot gamedays.
As originally built, the park was criticized by many fans. To avoid overhang problems that were present in many stadiums built in the modern era, the upper deck was set back over the lower deck. However, this created one of the highest upper decks in baseball. The first row of seats in the upper deck at the new stadium is farther from the field than the highest row of seats in the upper deck at the old stadium. The new park's roof was much smaller than the old park's roof, and didn't completely cover the upper deck. Mike Veeck, son of the former White Sox' owner, once said, "It had everything but a soul."
In response to fan complaints, the stadium has undergone numerous renovations since its opening in order to retrofit the facility to current architectural trends. These new features have included building a multi-tiered concourse beyond center field, adjusting the fences to make the outfield less symmetrical and, most significantly, the removal of 6,000 seats at the top of the upper deck.
The uppermost story of the park now has a white and black screen behind the top row of seats and is topped by a flat canopy roof supported by poles that obstruct the view of a few seats. To give the park a "retro" feel the roof has black steel truss supports. The original blue seats were also replaced by forest green seats. The new green and black color scheme, upper level screen set back from the outer wall and canopy roof resembles the old Comiskey Park as well as other classic baseball stadiums. The White Sox have also added murals to the interior concourses, a prominent feature of the old stadium.
The stadium houses 84 luxury suites located on two levels, as well as thousands of "club seats" on 300-level mezzanine between the lower deck and upper deck. The club seats receive in-seat wait-staff and benefit from an enclosed concourse with multiple television viewing areas and bar-style concessions.
[edit] Trivia
- Although the most of the blue seats have been replaced with green seats, two blue seats remain in the outfield. One is in the left field section, while the other is in right-center. The seats are the very seats where Paul Konerko's grand-slam and Scott Podsednik's walk-off home run from the 2005 World Series landed.[1]
- Notoriously located near the former sites of the Robert Taylor Homes and Stateway Gardens housing projects, at one time one of the most dangerous neighbourhoods in the United States.
- Since the name change, local radio host, Steve Dahl, has called US Cellular Field "The Joan" in honor of Joan Cusack in the TV commercials for the company. The name is often usedTemplate:Fact.
- Major League Soccer team Chicago Fire were offered one of the adjacent parking lots by the city of Chicago to build their proposed 20,000 seater soccer stadium on the condition that the team funded the project themselves without any money from the city. Although the deal would have made the team the first absolute owners of a stadium in North American soccer it proved too costly and Fire located to their Toyota Park home in Bridgeview instead.Ironically, the Fire considered using the park as a temporary home while Soldier Field was being remodeld.
- In September 2004, the Florida Marlins, who were already in town playing the Cubs, used the stadium for two games against the Montreal Expos while Hurricane Ivan hit Florida.
[edit] Picture Gallery
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