Hits

• A full wraparound concourse was added as a part of the recent renovations. It is hard to imagine the park without now as it makes it much more spacious than it had been.
• The team store in left field is located in what was once a synagogue. This is one of the most unique and creative features you will find at any minor league ballpark.
• “Rooftop” seats are located behind the fence in right field, attached to a building known as the “Performance Center”.
• The kid’s fun zone is one of the biggest you’ll find anywhere. It features multiple bounce houses and other activities for kids. Unfortunately, there is a rather steep cost ($6) for kids to enjoy it.
• A splashpad and playground are located in the right field corner (these are free of charge). While the splashpad is a neat and unique idea, the team needs to use common sense as to when it should be turned off. On cool evenings (like the one I attended), it is annoying to have to walk by it and get splashed.
• Berms in left field and right field can accommodate the overflow crowds that they seem to draw on popular nights.
• The backdrop behind the first base line is pretty cool as it features the old Union Station building as well as another large warehouse/factory building (which seems to be abandoned).
• Seats, which were looking very worn when I visited in 2003, have been completely replaced with brand new green fold downs. The metal bleachers that comprised much of the seating were also replaced with real seats.
• Behind the left field fence is a large bar seating area.
• A beautiful new entrance was added in center field. It features a nice statue of Stan Coveleski, who the ballpark was originally named after. This entrance is very convenient to the bulk of the parking, so is the one which most fans use.
• A large video board was also added during the most recent renovations.

• The open air suites that have been added along the concourse are neat, but they defeat the purpose of having fans be able to see the action while walking around.
• The behavior of the mascots was rude at times. Before the game, one was seeing climbing on the trash cans outside the park. And inside, they were seen running through the concourses ignoring kids.
• Parking is a bit expensive ($5) for a single-A team.
• The number of group areas is excessive for the amount of room they have in the park. On the night I was there, they seemed to just invent “picnic” areas which consumed the concourse area, thus making is hard to navigate.
• The team has extended the netting past the dugouts, which block the view from too many seats. I know a lot of teams are doing this nowadays for “safety” reasons, but I still dislike it.
• The pressbox and luxury boxes are on the concourse level, resulting in a large “dark” area behind home plate that is out of view of the field. This was a definite “bug” in the early design of the modern ballpark.

• The recent renovations have greatly improved the concessions as well. There are numerous different options with pricing about what you’d expect for a single-A ballpark. Not cheap, but not overly expensive either.
• Smokey Joe’s BBQ Shack serves up pulled pork ($9) and brisket sandwiches ($9.50) as well as BBQ nachos ($8.50).
• Burgertopia offers six different specialty burgers with names like “The Cub”, “The Grizzly”, and “The Pit Boss”. All cost around $8.
• A tiki bar is located in the outfield, selling numerous adult beverages.
• Ben’s Pretzels has a stand in right field that bakes hot soft pretzels on the spot. They are probably the best pretzel you will ever taste at a ballpark.