Miller Park (Milwaukee)
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| Miller Park | |
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| Location | 1 Brewers Way Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53214 |
| Broke ground | November 9, 1996 |
| Opened | April 6, 2001 |
| Owner | Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball District, Milwaukee Brewers |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction cost | $400 million |
| Architect | HKS, Inc., NBBJ, Eppstein Uhen Architects |
| Tenants | Milwaukee Brewers (MLB) (2001–present) |
| Capacity | 42,200[1] |
| Field dimensions | Left Field: 344 ft / 105 m Left-Center: 370 ft / 113 m Center Field: 400 ft / 122 m Right-Center: 374 ft / 114 m Right Field: 337 ft / 102.72 m |
Miller Park is a ballpark located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is home to the Milwaukee Brewers and was built as a replacement for Milwaukee County Stadium. The title sponsor is the Miller Brewing Company. Miller's contract with the stadium was for $40 million, and runs until the year 2020. [2] The park is most notable for its fan-shaped retractable roof, and the large panes of glass included in its design to allow natural grass to grow.
The park is located just southwest of the intersection of I-94, US-41, and Miller Park Way (WIS-341).
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[edit] Construction
Miller Park was built with $310 million of public funds, which was controversial, due to the unpopular notion of using public funds for a privately owned sports team. Construction was subject to numerous delays. Groundbreaking took place on November 9, 1996, in a parking lot behind County Stadium. Construction had already been slowed, and the originally planned opening date of Opening Day 1999 had already been pushed back, until it was delayed even further after three construction workers were killed in an accident. The massive Lampson Transi-lift crane 3 (nicknamed "Big Blue"), brought in to build the roof, collapsed while lifting a 400 ton roof section on July 14, 1999. The stadium did not open until Opening Day 2001.
The stadium has a retractable roof, built in a unique convertible style, with the roof panels opening and closing simultaneously in a sweeping manner from the first base and third base sides towards center field. The huge roof explained a large part of the $400 million cost of the stadium. The stadium heats 30 degrees above the current outside temperature if the roof is closed on a cold weather day.
The design team was appointed after a design competition in the mid 1990s. The architectural concept for the stadium was developed by the Los Angeles based Sports and Entertainment team of NBBJ who worked closely with an LA based team from engineers Arup, who were responsible for all stages the structural and building services engineering design for the stadium with the exception of the mechanical mechanisms that move the roof structure. The original versions of these mechanisms were designed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America as part of a design and build contract, but they have now been replaced by new designs after their failure. Executive architect responsible for the delivery of the final stadium design was a Dallas based team of HKS, Inc.. In addition to these major players there were a significant contributions from more local teams including FLAD, engineer and Eppstein Uhen, architects.
The stadium design follows the trend of retro-designed ballparks with current amenities that began in 1990s.
The original grass playing surface was installed on March 10, 2001. It consisted mostly of sod transplanted from the old County Stadium.
[edit] Problematic roof
The unconventional fan-shaped roof has proven to be more problematic than most contemporary retractable roofs. Because of its height and size, the fixed roof panel on the stadium's west (first-base) grandstand casts a shadow on the infield during most of the day. This has resulted in unexpected problems with the maintenance of the grass playing field on the first base side. As recently as April 2008, the Brewers have publicly broached the possibility of having to replace the natural grass surface with an artificial surface, such as FieldTurf.[3] The roof has also been the butt of jokes in the local media for its tendency to leak during summer rain storms. The Brewers, in response to critics, have claimed that the roof was never intended to be water tight. Major elements of the pivot system behind home plate and the outfield roof track have had to be repaired or even replaced at the cost of millions of dollars since the stadium's opening in 2001.[4]
On September 25, 2006, one day after the final Brewers home game of the season, the roof failed while opening and was stuck partially open. A shattered lower guide roller was the cause of the failure.[5] At the end of the 2006 season, the roof's bogie system was replaced at a cost of over $13 million. The ten new, 24-feet-(7.3-meter)-long, 60-horsepower bogies were paid for with money from the settlement between the stadium district and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of America. Six of the bogies weigh 66 tons apiece, while the four others weigh 49 tons. The work was completed by lifting sections of the roof approximately six inches with hydraulic lifts, while a 300-ton crane replaces the bogies individually. "We're saying the bogies will last for the life of the facility," said Mike Duckett, executive director of the Miller Park stadium district.[6] While the majority of the project was completed by the start of the 2007 season, final calibrations were not complete until the 2007 midseason.[7]
[edit] Recent additions
In time for the 2006 season there were three noticeable additions to the stadium. Two different sets of LED scoreboards were added. One replacing the formerly manually-operated "out of town" scoreboards located along the left and right field walls with a new set of LED scoreboards along the left-field wall. The new "out of town" scoreboards show continually updated information about other Major League games including the score, hits, errors, outs, and an image of the field displaying the runners on base. A second-tier marquee scoreboard was also added along the bottom of the 300-level of the stadium stretching from foul pole to home plate to foul pole. The section of the second-tier scoreboard above home plate displays statistics for those unable to see the main scoreboard above the center-field wall. The final addition to Miller Park for the 2006 season was the addition of a field-level picnic-area in the corner of right-field. The picnic-area has a capacity of 75 and provides a place for fans to watch the game in a leisurely setting and be within feet of the right-fielder.
[edit] Atmosphere
One of the unique features of Miller Park is the tailgate party scene in the parking lots. Brewers fans typically grill food and enjoy drinks while playing games and listening to music in the parking lots prior to a game. Many companies also sponsor huge tailgate parties for their employees and clients. Miller Park has been rated as having the best tailgating scene in Major League Baseball. Fans from all over the Midwest come to Miller Park to enjoy the unique atmosphere.
In 2005, Sports Illustrated conducted fan surveys and rated Miller Park as the best ballpark based on value per dollar spent. The Brewers new ownership currently has plans to add newer amenities to further enhance the ballpark experience. A new upscale lounge, the "Gehl Club", located next to the existing "Metavante Club," opened for the 2007 season.
Despite not reaching the playoffs since 1982, Brewers fans are loyal and continue to show up to Miller Park in relatively strong numbers to see their upstart team. Although attendance dropped after the 2001 opening season to a low of 20,993 per game in 2003, numbers have rebounded. In 2007 the Brewers set a new franchise high mark for attendance with 2,869,144. This ranks them 12th in the majors despite being the smallest market in baseball.[8] ESPN Page 2 writer Bill Simmons described Brewers fans as being like "over-protective Little League parents" in a 2006 visit to Miller Park.[9]
[edit] Attractions
- The Klement's Sausage Race occurs during each game in the middle of the 6th inning; it was moved from the bottom of the 6th inning to enable the sausages to create more excitement for the fans as the Brewers prepare to bat. The current "racing sausages" are the Bratwurst, the Italian, the Chorizo, the Polish, and the Hot Dog. The Chorizo sausage (to salute the region's growing Latino population) was added on July 29, 2006 for one race, and became a full-time participant in 2007.
- Bernie Brewer, the team mascot, has a club house above the left field seats. When a home run is hit, he slides down a yellow plastic slide to a lower level of that club house. This is different from his old home at Milwaukee County Stadium, where Bernie would slide into a giant mug of beer in center field.
- During the seventh inning stretch, in addition to "Take Me Out to the Ballgame", fans at Miller Park also sing the "Beer Barrel Polka", which also known as "Roll Out the Barrel" in salute to Milwaukee's beer making history.
[edit] Events
- On opening day in April 2001, President George W. Bush, a close friend of Bud Selig, did the first pitch honors for the stadium. However, before the President would throw out the historic pitch, Selig threw out the first pitch (making the President's pitch the second).
- It was the site of the infamous tie at the 2002 MLB All-Star Game.
- The stadium was a major filming location for the motion picture Mr. 3000, which centered around a fictional Brewers' player.
- In April 2007, snow storms in northern Ohio forced the home-opening series between the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the Cleveland Indians to find a different location. Major League Baseball took advantage of Miller Park's roof and moved the series to Milwaukee. All seats were sold for $10 apiece, and attendance was reported at 52,496 for the three games.[10] While this series was being played, Milwaukee was also plagued by snow storms, making the arrival and parking a challenge for fans. This was the first "home series" by "Cleveland" staged in Milwaukee since the fictional 1989 film Major League. When Joe Borowski came on in the ninth innings of the games the Indians won in Milwaukee, the song "Wild Thing" would blare from the PA system, in a nod to Major League.
- Miller Park hosted the 2007 United States Bowling Congress Masters finals on Sunday, October 28, 2007. The playing surface was fitted with four bowling lanes for the tournament.[11] This was not the first time this had happened, as a similar bowling championship event was held in 2006.
[edit] References
- ^ The Official Site of The Milwaukee Brewers: Ballpark: Facts, Figures, & Ground Rules, MLB.com.
- ^ http://espn.go.com/sportsbusiness/s/stadiumnames.html
- ^ Walker, Don, "Miller Park's turf", Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 5, 2008.
- ^ Walker, Don, "Design flaws noted in Miller Park roof", Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 17, 2002.
- ^ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Miller Park roof part shatters", September 26, 2006.
- ^ Walker, Don, "As baseball season ends, stadium roof repair begins", Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, September 21, 2006.
- ^ Walker, Don, "Miller Park roof is back at full speed", Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July 13, 2007.
- ^ "MLB Attendance Report - 2007", ESPN.com, October 1, 2007.
- ^ Simmons, Bill, "Time for beer, brats and Favre", ESPN.com, August 25, 2006.
- ^ Castrovince, Anthony, "Angels-Indians series moved", MLB.com, April 9, 2007.
- ^ Milwaukee Brewers press release, "Miller Park to host 2007 USBC Masters finals", MLB.com, 24 May 2007.
[edit] External links
- Video of Crane collapsing (at googlevideo.com)
- Miller Park Overview (at MilwaukeeBrewers.com)
- Brief History of Miller Park
- Quick Facts on Miller Park from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
- Information on Miller Park, including what to do if you visit
- USGS aerial of old park and new construction
- Miller Park photos on Flickr
| Preceded by Milwaukee County Stadium |
Home of the Milwaukee Brewers 2001 – present |
Succeeded by Current |
| Preceded by Safeco Field |
Host of the All-Star Game 2002 |
Succeeded by U.S. Cellular Field |
| Preceded by Jacobs Field |
Home of the Cleveland Indians 2007 |
Succeeded by Jacobs Field |
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