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Year Opened 1990 Current Team Affiliate League Capacity My Grades Photos taken in 2004 |
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Fort Mill, South Carolina |
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| Despite the stadium actually being located in South Carolina, Knight's Castle is home to the Charlotte (NC) Knights. Though it is a relatively new ballpark, the team has been trying to get Charlotte to build them a new downtown ballpark. It was simply built at the wrong time - just before the "retro" trend came along that dictated ballparks be built downtown and be more intimate. Knight's Castle is anything but intimate. While it does have a concourse that overlooks the field (apparently something that architects think fans are demanding these days), the seating bowl is just too high. It is also split by a center concourse (which is actually needed here due to how high the grandstand is) that pushes some seats back even further. While sightlines are fine, there are just too many seats that are not close to the field. There is also a upper deck which strangely features general admission seating - most teams would call this "Club" seating and charge twice as much for it. Grassy berms are located down each line for additional seating, but apparently they are only opened on nights when there are large crowds. The only unique aspect there is about the park are the rows of different colored seats. Though they are apparently the work of a fashion designer, they seemed ugly and pointless to me. I suppose that's why you don't normally consult fashion designers when building a ballpark. Concessions at Knights Castle are average at best. There is not much variety (Italian sausages, burgers, Subway, BBQ) and the quality is lacking. The atmosphere is very typical of the AAA experience : only a couple between inning games (race the mascot, dizzy) and not many sound effects. Homer the Dragon is the team mascot and is pretty active with the fans. The bottom line on Knight's Castle is "so what ?" There is nothing unique or interesting about this park and there was very little care put into the design of it. And I doubt very much that it would be missed if it were replaced by a downtown ballpark in Charlotte. |
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