Harbor Park

This article is about the baseball stadium in Virginia. For the amusement park in England, see Harbour Park.
Harbor Park
Location 150 Park Avenue
Norfolk, VA 23510
Coordinates 36°50′34.04″N 76°16′43.93″W / 36.8427889°N 76.2788694°W / 36.8427889; -76.2788694Coordinates: 36°50′34.04″N 76°16′43.93″W / 36.8427889°N 76.2788694°W / 36.8427889; -76.2788694
Owner City of Norfolk
Operator Maryland Baseball Holding, LLC
Capacity 11,856 (2015–present)[1]
12,067 (1993–2014)[2]
Field size Left Field — 333 feet
Center Field — 400 feet
Right Field — 318 feet
Surface Grass
Construction
Broke ground February 21, 1992[3]
Opened April 14, 1993
Construction cost $16 million
($2.63 million in 2016 dollars[4])
Architect Populous (Formerly HOK Sport)
Project manager McDevitt and Street Co.[5]
Structural engineer Kerr Conrad Graham Associates[6]
Services engineer Bredson & Associates, Inc.[7]
General contractor OMNI Construction Inc.[5]
Tenants
Norfolk Tides (IL) (1993–Present)

Harbor Park is a stadium, used primarily for baseball, on the Elizabeth River, in downtown Norfolk, Virginia. Once rated the best minor league stadium by Baseball America, it is home to the Norfolk Tides minor league baseball team. The Tides are the Baltimore Orioles' AAA farm team and compete in the South division of the International League. Harbor Park opened on April 14, 1993 and can seat 11,856 people.

Features

Seating includes 9,000 lower deck seats, 2,800 upper deck seats and a 300 person capacity picnic area. The stadium also features 24 luxury skyboxes with seating for 400, and a 225-seat full-service restaurant with a panoramic view of the field from the first base side. A record crowd of 14,263 was reached August 31, 1996.[8]

The field is made of natural grass and features a state of the art irrigation and drainage system. The outfield dimensions are 333 feet to the left field foul pole, 400 feet to straightaway center, and 318 down the right field line.

Notable Events

During Major League Baseball's search for a new home for the Montreal Expos, Norfolk submitted a proposal which would have expanded Harbor Park to temporarily accommodate a major league team. Norfolk's bid was rejected and the Expos eventually became the Washington Nationals.[9]

On March 30, 2007, the Washington Nationals played an exhibition game against the Baltimore Orioles at Harbor Park. The game was sold out two weeks in advance; attendance was 12,408.[10]

On October 28, 2008, Barack Obama held a rally at Harbor Park.[11]

On December 16, 2008, the city of Norfolk approved a plan by the Tides to build a party deck in right field, behind the home team's bullpen. Completed in March 2009, two weeks before an Orioles–Nationals exhibition game, the deck holds 400 people but did not increase stadium capacity, except during sold-out games, when the deck accommodates some overflow. The right field fence was moved in 20 feet, to accommodate the deck, setting it at its current distance of 318 feet.[12]

The concert band piece Harbor Park Holiday, written in 1996 by Norfolk native James L. Hosay, was written about Harbor Park.

References

  1. ↑ "2015 Norfolk Tides Media Guide". Minor League Baseball. March 15, 2015. p. 164. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  2. ↑ "2014 Norfolk Tides Media Guide". Minor League Baseball. March 19, 2014. p. 162. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Stadium Starting Lineup". The Virginian-Pilot. Norfolk. February 22, 1992. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  4. ↑ Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Community Development Project. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  5. 1 2 Robinson, Tom (July 1, 1992). "Omni Submits Lowest Bid for Construction of Tides' Stadium". The Virginian-Pilot. Norfolk. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Ken Olson Experience". LinkedIn. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
  7. ↑ "Pro Baseball Sports Facilities". Bredson & Associates, Inc. Archived from the original on April 10, 2002. Retrieved August 8, 2013.
  8. ↑ Radford, Rich (September 1, 1996). "14,263 Pack Harbor Park as Tides Roll". The Virginian-Pilot. Norfolk. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
  9. ↑ Minium, Harry (December 17, 2004). "Norfolk Not Likely to Make Another Push for Expos". The Virginian-Pilot. Norfolk. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  10. ↑ Radford, Rich (March 31, 2007). "A Painful Win for Area's O's Fans". The Virginian-Pilot. Norfolk. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
  11. ↑ Watson, Denise M.; Wagner, Lon (October 29, 2008). "For Harbor Park Crowd, Barack Obama Hits a Home Run". The Virginian-Pilot. Norfolk. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  12. ↑ Minium, Harry (December 17, 2008). "Tides Hope to Bring Back the Home Run at Harbor Park". The Virginian-Pilot. Norfolk. p. 1, Sports section. Archived from the original on February 15, 2013. Retrieved December 17, 2008.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Harbor Park.

Pictures

Events and tenants
Preceded by
Met Park		 Home of the
Norfolk Tides
1993 – present 		Succeeded by
current
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