Citizens Bank Park Stadium

Home of major league baseball's Philadelphia Phillies, the 43,500-seat ballpark was inaugurated on April 12, 2004 . Located in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , Citizens Bank Park is a baseball-only-facility that was built to replace the Veterans Stadium, which was a multi-purpose facility. By the late 1990's both the Phillies and the Eagles (NFL) started lobbying for a new stadium to get rid of perhaps the worst stadium in the second half of the 20th century, Veterans Stadium. In November 2000 the City of Philadelphia agreed on a location and financial terms for the construction of two new stadiums. Ewing Cole Cherry Brott ( Philadelphia ) and HOK Sport ( Kansas City ) designed the layout of the stadium. Built at the cost of $346 million, $174 million was raised by public financing, and $172 million was raised by private financing. Replacing the miserable Veterans Stadium, the new Citizens Bank Park was not given a downtown location. It was rather made a standalone facility next to Veterans Stadium in the south of downtown. The stadium was inaugurated on April 9, 2004 and on April 12, 2004 Citizens Bank for $95 million over 25 years bought the naming rights. $57.5 million for naming rights and $37.5 million for the Phillies broadcast media package. On April 3, 2004 , Jim Thome hit the first homer ever at Citizens Bank Park against the Cleveland Indians. On June 14, 2004 , Jim Thome blasted his 400th homerun. On April 6, 2005 , National's Brad Wilkerson hits for the cycle.

With real grass, angled seating, rooftop bleachers and a state-of-the-art design, Citizens Bank Park is truly a fan favorite. Constructed on the east of the site of Veterans Stadium on the north side of Pattison Avenue , between 11th and Darien Streets in South Philadelphia, Citizens Bank Park covers 21 acres of land. At the four corners of the site, landscaped entrance plazas open the park to the street. Each of these entrance plazas with its four unique squares echoes the rich architecture of City of Philadelphia design plan. Like other MLB parks there's a noticeable emphasis on sightlines. At home plate, third base and first base, there are 50-foot high glass enclosed towers that when lighted glow at night and adds to captivating glory of the stadium. The Phillies made it sure that there ballpark will feature some references to Connie Mack Stadium/Shibe Park, where the Phillies played from 1938 to 1970. Additional 300-seat rooftop bleachers were specifically added above the center field bullpens to honor the fans who sat on nearby roofs at Connie Mack Stadium. The seating has been cantilevered that places fans right on top of the action. Like Franklin Field and Shibe Park , the Ballpark features arcade clad in brick, precast concrete and stone, that provides shelter, shadow and respite. There are three levels of seating, the lower deck, a suite level, and the upper deck. The main grandstand extends from the left field foul pole to homeplate, to the right field foul pole, and into right center field. The main scoreboard/video board is located above these seats. The stadium features t a higher level of services. All seats are centered toward the pitchers' mound. The playing surface is 23 feet below street level and is matted with Kentucky Bluegrass. The ballpark has seventy-two luxury suites, thirteen feet above the main concourse, located between the foul poles. The mezzanine club level, consists of 6,600 seats and is twenty-one feet above the main concourse. The ballpark has seventeen elevators and three escalators.

An outfield entertainment area that includes entire outfield concourse, from the left field scoreboard entrance to the right field seats offer family-fun amenities, entertainment, and enhanced concessions offering a variety of delicious food and beverage concessions, including Harry the K's, The High & Inside Pub and a McFadden's Restaurant & Saloon. A Scoreboard Restaurant located at the northwest corner entrance inside the scoreboard. A Sports Pub Cafe will be located in the southwest corner of the Ballpark. There's a special viewing area down the right-field line, where the fans can watch the ballgame and catch a sight of the spectacular Philadelphia Center City skyline. The ballpark has several Phillies merchandise areas from where the guests purchase Phillies hats, shirts and merchandise of all kinds. Four 10-foot tall bronze sculptures of Phillies legends Steve Carlton, Richie Ashburn, Mike Schmidt, and Robin Roberts are located beyond the outfield seating areas. Icon of Citizens Bank Park a colossal Liberty Bell is located in left-center field above the rooftop bleacher seats. Neon Liberty Bell swings and rings after a Phillies player hit a home run. Ashburn Alley is located in the outfield concourse area and is dedicated to Hall of Famer and former broadcaster Richie "Whitey" Ashburn. Ashburn Alley adorns a street-fair type atmosphere during the games complete with picnic areas, family-fun amenities, Philadelphia moments in baseball, plenty of Philadelphia flavor, unobstructed views to the playing field, and a special viewing area overlooking the bullpens. Parking is not a big issue at the stadium since 20,000 parking spaces in surround the parking lots.