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Busch Stadium / St.
Louis Cardinals
(click on the image
for a larger photo)
| Year Opened | 2006 |
| Capacity | 46,861 (includes suites and standing room) |
| Architect | HOK Sport+Venue+Event |
| Dimensions | 336LL, 390LC, 400C, 390RC, 335RL |
| Playing Surface | Bluegrass |
| Last Visit | 2006 |
| Web Site | mlb.com |
| Online Broadcasts | Yes |
| Online Ticket Sales | Yes |
| Phone | 314/345-9000 |
| Ticket Prices (2006) | Bank Of America Club, $90; Coca-Cola Scoreboard Patio, $80; Casino Queen Party Porch, $42; OF Field Box, $38; 1st & 3rd Loge Box, $38; OF Loge Box, $34; OF Terrace Box, $28; Pavilion Box, $27; Infield Terrace Reserved, $24; Pavilion Reserved, $20; Bleachers, $16; OF Terrace Reserved, $13 |
| League | National League |
| Parking | There are many parking lots and ramps in the surrounding area. Also, the area meters only run through 7 p.m. |
| Address/Directions | 8th and Poplar, St. Louis. Busch Stadium is near the intersection of I-64 and I-55 in downtown St. Louis. A new exit off I-64 directly serves the ballpark. There is a Busch Stadium stop on the Metro Link light-rail line, running directly from the airport. |
| Written by: | Kevin Reichard |
| Rating |  |
In many ways the Busch Stadium is a work in progress. It certainly was during our initial visit to the ballpark, and that work is expected to run though the beginning of the 2007 season -- if not later.
At the beginning of the season, capacity is only 40,000 until the Cardinals finish construction on the other 6,000 seats; the delay comes because the new seats are located where the old Busch Stadium used to be. The old Busch Stadium is now totally gone, and the Cardinals will be building a Ballpark Village in the area. The St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame, located across 8th Street in a building shared by the International Bowling Museum, will move sometime after the season to a new space in Ballpark Village.
Go to Busch Stadium now and be prepared to walk through what's basically still a construction site. The incomplete nature of the ballpark makes a final evaluation impossible, but one thing is clear: Busch Stadium isn't among the top echelon of MLB ballparks.
(click on the image
for a larger photo)
And, to be totally blunt, we're not sure the Cardinals really intended it to be. Yes, there are some requisite homages to the past, but they are not central to the Busch Stadium experience. There's the requisite number of concession stands, but there's surprisingly little variety given how new the facility is. The elements are all there, but that last little attention to detail -- the kind that makes Citizens Bank Park or AT&T Park such delights -- is missing.
Does that absence matter? Not in the least. The Cardinals ownership probably figured out long ago that their fan base is one of the most sophisticated and loyal in the majors. The Cardinals rule St. Louis. There's precious little need to woo the casual fan: Cardinals tickets are among the hottest in the majors. There's no need for frou-frou concession stands or flashy memorials to the past at Busch Stadium: build a comfortable ballpark where baseball rules, and the sophisticated Cardinals fans will return.
As they did to the second Busch Stadium, designed by Edward Durrell Stone and Sverdrup & Parcel & Associates. (Owner Gussie Busch renamed Sportsman's Park to Busch Stadium after Bill Veeck and the St. Louis Browns left town before the 1954 season.) The second Busch Stadium, which opened in 1966, was a circular cookie-cutter stadium also hosting the NFL's St. Louis Cardinals. It was hailed as state of the art when it opened, but very few players remember it fondly. Because it featured artificial turf, the second Busch was regarded as a tough place to play: tough on the joints and tough on the rest of the body because the artificial turf sucked up heat from the sun. After the NFL's Cards left for Phoenix, the second Busch Stadium was reconfigured for baseball.
(click on the image
for a larger photo)
A temporary solution, to be sure. Over the years Cards management realized the second Busch just didn't have the infrastructure -- plush suites, club level, premium seating -- to financially compete with the big hitters in baseball. And while Cards fans are indeed fanatical in their devotion to their team, they are also demanding. They want a winner.
So the Cards front office did the logical thing: pursue a new ballpark. When state and city funding materialize, the Cards pursued private financing, finally ending on designs for a $365 million ballpark adjacent to the second Busch Stadium.
We're guessing the Cardinals exercised some value engineering as designs evolved, because the end result was a ballpark with very few bells and whistles. The St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame and Museum is located across Eighth Street from the ballpark; there are no plans to move it to the new ballpark. A famous statue of Stan Musial was moved from old Busch Stadium; Stan the Man now stands guard at the Gate 3 entrance. Nifty medallions from Wishstone Chisel & Mallet are scattered through the park and at the entrances; the medallions highlight uniforms and logos used by the Cards throughout the years.
(click on the image
for a larger photo)
There is really only one direct homage to the second Busch Stadium (and none at all to the first): the installation of the manual scoreboards from Busch, left in the same configuration as they were the day the ballpark closed down last fall. Ironically, their presence highlights one of the deficiencies of the new Busch: the scoreboards convey less information than these old hand-operated scoreboards did.
(click on the image
for a larger photo)
But the real stars at Busch Stadium are the fans. Yes, the concourses are a little cramped, but that's OK: there's less space between a Cardinals fan and their seats. Outside you'll find thousands of bricks engraved with the names of Cardinals fans; we noticed hundreds of fans looking through the engraved bricks to see their family inscription. Other new ballparks feature engraved bricks; here it seems to mean more.
Next Page: Concessions and More
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