Citizens Bank Park

About Citizens Bank Park

Citizens Bank Park is a 43,647-seat baseball-only stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania which opened on April 3, 2004 and hosted its first regular season baseball game on April 12 of that same year, as the tenants of the facility, the Philadelphia Phillies lost to the Cincinnati Reds, 4–1. The ballpark was built to replace the now-demolished Veterans Stadium (a football/baseball multipurpose facility), and features natural grass and dirt playing field and also features a number of Philadelphia style food stands, including several which serve cheesesteaks, hoagies, and other regional specialties. Behind center field is Ashburn Alley, named after Phillies great center fielder and Hall of Famer Richie Ashburn, a walkway featuring restaurants and memorabilia from Phillies history, along with a restaurant/bar and grille called "Harry The K's" named after Hall of Fame broadcaster Harry Kalas. This area opens two-and-a-half hours before the scheduled first pitch, similar to Eutaw Street at Oriole Park at Camden Yards via the Left Field Gate, with two exceptions: Opening Day, when all gates open three hours before the scheduled first pitch and on the team's annual Photo Day, when all gates open two-and-a-half hours before the scheduled first pitch to allow fans with cameras onto the warning track to take pictures (or videos) of the team's players.

In 1998, the Phillies and the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League joined their Western Pennsylvania counterparts, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Pittsburgh Steelers in making requests to replace both Veterans Stadium and Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh with separate stadiums, much of which came after a railing collapsed at The Vet during the Army-Navy Game, injuring eight cadets. The Pirates had also made strong threats in 1997 about moving from Pittsburgh, forcing the issue at the state level. The state legislature approved funding for the four proposed stadiums. While Allegheny County and the City of Pittsburgh approved the pacts swiftly, due to plans already being in place at the time of legislative approval, debate within Philadelphia's city leaders carried on as Pittsburgh opened their stadiums (PNC Park for the Pirates and Heinz Field for the Steelers) in 2001. The Eagles agreed to a site slightly southeast of Veterans Stadium, which would become Lincoln Financial Field. The stadium was built on the site of an old food warehouse and celebrated its grand opening in August 2003.

The Phillies originally wanted a downtown ballpark similar to Baltimore, Denver, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit or San Francisco. Various locations were proposed, initially at Broad and Spring Garden streets, Spring Garden and Delaware Avenue and next to 30th Street Station, where the main post office is located. The team and City announced that the site would be at 13th and Vine streets, just north of Interstate 676, within walking distance of downtown. There was considerable support for a downtown ball park from business and labor and the city at large, but residents of the city's Chinatown section protested. Although the ballpark was not actually located in Chinatown, the City and team eventually settled on building at the south Philadelphia sports complex, on the site of an old food warehouse much like Lincoln Financial Field. In the years that followed, residents, fans and owner Bill Giles expressed regret that the new ball park was not located in Center City.