Operator Bison Baseball Inc. Opened 14 April 1988 Team Buffalo Bisons | Surface Kentucky Bluegrass Architecture firm Populous Owner Buffalo | |
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Former names Pilot Field (1988–95)
Downtown Ballpark (1995)
North AmeriCare Park (1995–98)
Dunn Tire Park (1999–2008) Location 275 Washington Street
Buffalo, New York 14203 Capacity 16,907 (2017–present)
17,600 (2015–2016)
18,025 (2005–2014)
21,050 (1990–2004)
19,500 (1988–1989) Field size Left Field – 325 feet (99 m)
Center Field – 404 feet (123 m)
Right Field – 325 feet (99 m) Similar Offermann Stadium, Buffalo and Erie County N, Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural, Buffalo City Hall, Buffalo and Erie County B | ||
Coca-Cola Field (formerly Dunn Tire Park, North AmeriCare Park, Downtown Ballpark and Pilot Field) is a 17,600-seat baseball park in Buffalo, New York that hosted its first regular season baseball game on April 14, 1988, as the tenants of the facility, the Buffalo Bisons, defeated the Denver Zephyrs, 1–0.
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HOK Sport (now known as Populous) designed the park as one of the first retro-classic ballparks. This concept featured classic and distinctive architecture, a grass, baseball-specific design, and a location within the downtown core. The same firm would bring this concept to the major leagues four years later with Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
11 1 final steps of coca cola field project
History
At the time of the stadium's construction, Buffalo was hoping to get either an expansion Major League Baseball team or a relocated team; Buffalo was one of the five finalists in the early 1990s National League expansion process, which led to the 1993 debuts of the Colorado Rockies and Florida Marlins. The ballpark was built with a seating capacity of 19,500 people, which makes it the third largest stadium in minor league baseball. The design allows for future expansion to accommodate a major league team: capacity could be increased to nearly 40,000 by double-decking the existing mezzanine.
In the first season the Bisons played at the stadium, the team shattered the previous minor-league attendance record, as many Buffalonians and visitors traveled downtown to enjoy the amenities offered by the new facility, which replaced the old War Memorial Stadium as the Bisons' home. In this first season, the Bisons outdrew a number of Major League teams.
After several years as Pilot Field, there was a dispute involving the naming rights to the stadium following Pilot Air Freight's defaulting on naming rights payments. For part of a season, the stadium was known locally simply as the "Downtown Ballpark". In July 1995, however, another company stepped in and acquired the naming rights, and the stadium became known as North AmeriCare Park. The stadium maintained this moniker for only a few years, however. Prior to the start of the 1999 season, Dunn Tire, a local chain of retail tire outlets, became the naming rights holder for the stadium, thus the name Dunn Tire Park. On December 17, 2008, the Buffalo News reported that a new naming deal has been reached with Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Buffalo, with the stadium renamed as Coca-Cola Field for the 2009 season.
With the Omaha Royals moving out of Rosenblatt Stadium after the 2011 season, Coca-Cola Field is the highest-capacity minor league baseball stadium in the United States.
On November 6, 2015, a 120-foot light pole from left field, fell, and blocked Oak Street, which is behind Coca-Cola Field. The pole came crashing down around 11:15 a.m., due to high winds and rain at the time. No one was hurt in the incident.
Before the baseball field was built, the corner of Swan and Washington was the site of Ellsworth Statler's first hotel, Statler Hotel. It was later called the Hotel Buffalo after Statler built a new Statler Hotel on Niagara Square in 1923 and sold this one. Before the Statler Hotel here was St. John's Episcopal Church built from 1846–1848 on land donated by Joseph Ellicott, remained in use until 1893 and finally demolished 1906.
The 2017 season will be the Bisons' 30th season at the ballpark.
Facilities
In 2011, the Buffalo Bisons added a new state of the art video screen. The screen is the largest high-definition LED video display in all of Minor League Baseball.
Along with the new video board, a new lighting system was added for Coca-Cola Field. The new lighting system at Coca-Cola Field cost over $970,000 and contains fewer bulbs and emits more light.
For the 2014 season, $500,000 was spent in improvements to Coca-Cola Field. These improvements included a new sound system to replace the dated version that had been in house since the ballpark's 1988 opening and the installation of new LED message boards on the facing of the club level down both baselines.
On August 22, 2014, it was announced that the stadium would get new seats for the 2015 season, replacing 3,700 original seats from the ballpark's 1988 opening. The new seats were installed during the offseason, and these seats are for specially reserved sections. The seating capacity dropped from 18,025 to 17,600.
On August 22, 2016, the second phase of new seating project was announced to take place over the offseason. Seats in sections 115-122 are being replaced with seats identical to those that were installed during Phase 1. This renovation dropped the capacity of the stadium to 16,907.
Coca-Cola Field is served by the Seneca station on the Buffalo Metro Rail.
Events
Coca-Cola Field was also home to the Buffalo Nighthawks of the short-lived Ladies Professional Baseball League in 1998, when known as North Americare Park.
Other events hosted at the stadium include the "Ballpark Brawl" annual wrestling events, and the annual National Buffalo Wing Festival on Labor Day Weekend.
Also, it is the host of WYRK's Taste of Country concert.
The Goo Goo Dolls used the stadium back when it was named Pilot Field to film their music video for "There You Are".
On July 11, 2012, Coca-Cola Field hosted the 25th Annual Triple-A All-Star Game. The Pacific Coast League stars beat the International League stars.