Operator Hardball Capital Broke ground January 6, 2015 Opened 14 April 2016 Capacity 9,077 Construction cost 37 million USD | Surface Grass Structural engineer Walter P Moore Phone +1 803-726-4487 Owner Columbia Architect Populous | |
Location 1640 Freed Street
Columbia, South Carolina
United States Field size Left Field: 319 ft (97 m)
Left-Center Field: 372 ft (113 m)
Center Field: 400 ft (120 m)
Right-Center Field: 382 ft (116 m)
Right Field: 330 ft (100 m) Address 1640 Freed Street, Columbia, SC 29201, United States Similar Founders Park, Finlay Park, Koger Center for the Arts, Sesquicentennial State Park, Riverbanks Zoo | ||
Columbia fireflies home opener in the new spirit communications park
Spirit Communications Park is a baseball park in Columbia, South Carolina. It is the home of the Columbia Fireflies, a Minor League Baseball team playing in the South Atlantic League. It opened in 2016 and can seat up to 9,077 people.
Contents
- Columbia fireflies home opener in the new spirit communications park
- Columbia fireflies opening day spirit communications park
- Background
- References
Columbia fireflies opening day spirit communications park
Background
Columbia was without minor league baseball since the Capital City Bombers relocated to Greenville, South Carolina, in 2004. Plans were approved to build a new stadium to attract a Minor League Baseball team in 2014, with Spirit Communications, a local telecommunications company, buying the naming rights.
Developers broke ground on Spirit Communications Park on January 6, 2015. Architectural firm Populous built the stadium, with an estimated 8,500 capacity, on a budget of $37 million, with $30 million coming from public funds. The Savannah Sand Gnats of the Class A South Atlantic League announced in May 2015 that they would move to Columbia for the 2016 season, and be known as the Columbia Fireflies. Their first game at Spirit Communications Park, on April 14, 2016, was a 4–1 victory over the Greenville Drive attended by 9,077 people.
In its first season, Ballpark Digest named Spirit Communications Park it's 2016 Ballpark of the Year. It's the first time that a stadium has received the honor in its first year since Fluor Field at the West End, home of the Greenville Drive did in 2006.