| When people talk about minor league parks, it is often said that part of the appeal is that "there isn't a bad seat in the house." Well this is certainly not the case at Hank Aaron Stadium. With the building of this park, they seemed to have reversed many of the recent trends that most new parks have followed. This has resulted in many poor sightlines and a park that is simply not a great place to see a game. The main problem with the park is that the luxury boxes are situated on field level which pushes all the seating 20 feet up from field level. This upper level seating is split by a concourse and results in two levels of seating. The lower is box seats which are chained off and can only be accessed if you have a ticket in that area. The upper seating is all individual seats as well, but the first few rows can be obstructed by people strolling along the walkway which splits the sections. One nice touch is the roof over the last several rows of seating. Besides the poor sightlines, the park just feels too restrictive. Many areas are chained off and can only be accessed by ticket holders. Reversing another recent trend, the concourse is situated underneath the grandstand, completely out of view from the field. The concourse features several concession stands (each named after a different Major League park) and a small gift store. Another annoying aspect is the video arcade room that is on field level and has a view of the playing field. Arcades don't belong at a ballpark, but if you're going to have one, don't take up prime seating with it ! Besides the arcade, there is also a playland for kids(complete with a water slide) down the left field line. The atmosphere is typical of what you'd find at a minor league park, complete with four mascots ! Parking is plentiful, but a bit expensive at $3. The park is located next to a highway, but because of the single lane access road, egress after the game is slow. Overall, I was just not impressed with Hank Aaron Stadium. While it's good to see a park that doesn't follow the standard template, there are just too many aspects that did not appeal to me. It now appears that 2019 may be the last season for the Bay Bears here as they are planning to move to a new ballpark in Madison (a suburb of Huntsville).
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