<--- PREVIOUS PAGE: INTRODUCING HUNTINGTON PARK

Speaking of Cooper: Most fans will enter the ballpark from the center-field entrance, as that’s the one closest to the many parking ramps serving the ballpark and Nationwide Arena. There, fans are greeted with a statue of Harold Cooper, the man credited with bringing baseball back to Columbus and for whom Cooper Stadium was named. The statue lists Cooper’s accomplishments, while smaller plaques list the major teams in Columbus baseball history.

Getting back to our theme of discrete areas blended nicely into the whole: the club level, which can often feel like a fenced-off area, is open and large. The Clippers call it loge seating, with the club area actually extending down into the grandstand. The grandstand seating isn’t fixed theater-style seating, but rather office-style chairs in back of oversized drink rails, perfect for concessions or scorekeeping. Based on our visit we’d estimate fans spent about half of the game actually sitting at their assigned loge seats and spending the rest of the time hanging around the rest of the club area, which features plenty of table seating, two concession areas and a mondo bar.

In back of the club area: an open broadcast area for the team’s radio and TV announcers. Most announcers are separated from the ballpark experience, but the Clippers’ broadcasters are exposed and seemingly happy to chat with fans before the game.  It’s a nice touch to bring the broadcasters to the core fan base on a nightly basis; we’re guessing it will make fans more ready to seek out game broadcasts when they’re away from the ballpark.

The seating bowl is a horseshoe, with sections down each line curving back toward the action. A berm seating area is next to the left-field bleachers, with bar rails in the back and a reserved picnic area in the corner. Again, more discrete seating areas in the middle of the action.

There is nothing at all symmetric in this ballpark, and we’re guessing this was a conscious decision on the part of 360 Architecture designers based on the unique lot layout. Early on the decision was made to orient the grandstand so the downtown skyline would be in back of the playing field – a smart decision – but that seems to have forced features like the aforementioned screens on the right-field fence. It also seems to have led to an asymmetric grandstand, with suites extending further down the right-field line than left.

 

Concessions are handled in an interesting fashion at Huntington Park. The grandstand concourse isn’t open, but the concession areas are. Two large concessions booths are located down each line, and the square concession boxes can be accessed on all sides, so fans do have a view of the action when they leave their seats for beer and dogs. These concession stands have garage-door-like covers that can be lowered when the ballpark is open for special events. The concourse area in the grandstand features additional specialty concession stands; an extremely tall ceiling and plenty of openings provide lots of light and turn what could have been a dark hallway into a specious area. This area also features more historical displays; the pillars sport lists of the best players in Columbus baseball history by position, while there’s a display of former Columbus ballparks in the right-field corner, in the picnic area.