VyStar Ballpark
{{Short description|Baseball park in Jacksonville, Florida}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox venue
|stadium_name = VyStar Ballpark
|nickname =
|logo_image =
|image = Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.JPG
|image_size = 300px
|caption = The home plate entrance
|location = 301 A. Philip Randolph Boulevard
Jacksonville, Florida
United States
|coordinates = {{coord|30.324968|-81.643069|display=inline,title}}
|former names = Jacksonville Baseball Park (planning/construction)
Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville (2003–2014, 2017–2019)
{{cite news |title=Suns' Ticket Holders Take Seat at New Park|first=Jeff|last=Elliott|url=http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/011203/spb_11449308.shtml|newspaper=The Florida Times-Union|publisher=Morris Communications|date=January 12, 2003|access-date=December 3, 2013}}
Community First Park (2015–16)
|broke_ground = December 11, 2001{{cite web |title=Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville|first=Graham|last=Knight|url=http://www.baseballpilgrimages.com/AA/jacksonville.html|work=Baseball Pilgrimages|date=August 16, 2003|access-date=February 23, 2014}}
|opened = April 11, 2003
|closed =
|demolished =
|owner = City of Jacksonville
|operator = ASM Global
|surface = Grass
|construction_cost = $34 million
(${{formatprice|{{Inflation|US|34000000|2003}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars{{inflation-fn|US}})
|architect = Populous
|project_manager = Gilbane/Scheer/Renaissance{{cite web|title=Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville|url=http://www.bartonmalow.com/projects/jacksoville-baseball-grounds|website=Barton Malow Company|access-date=September 24, 2011|archive-date=April 25, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425094231/http://www.bartonmalow.com/projects/jacksoville-baseball-grounds|url-status=dead}}
|structural engineer = Bliss & Nyitray, Inc.{{cite web |title=Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville|url=http://www.bniengineers.com/sports-entertainment/baseball-grounds-of-jacksonville/|website=Bliss & Nyitray Inc|access-date=September 24, 2011}}
|services engineer = John J. Christie & Associates, PC{{cite web |title=Projects|url=http://www.johnjchristie.com/projects.html|website=John J. Christie & Associates, PC|access-date=September 24, 2011}}
|general_contractor = Barton Malow
|tenants = Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (SL/AAAE/IL) 2003–present
Jacksonville Armada FC (NASL) 2015–2016
|seating_capacity = 11,000 (baseball)
|dimensions = Left field: {{convert|321|ft|m|abbr=on}}
Center field: {{convert|420|ft|m|abbr=on}}
Right field: {{convert|317|ft|m|abbr=on}}{{cite web|title=Baseball Grounds History/Facts|url=https://www.milb.com/jacksonville/ballpark/baseball-grounds-facts|website=Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp|publisher=Minor League Baseball|access-date=February 6, 2020}}
}}
VyStar Ballpark (originally the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville){{cite web |last1=Hill |first1=Benjamin |title=Explore Jacksonville's VyStar Ballpark |url=https://www.mlb.com/milb/news/featured/explore-121-financial-ballpark-home-of-the-jacksonville-jumbo-shrimp |website=MLB.com |publisher=Major League Baseball |access-date=12 February 2025 |date=January 30, 2024}} is a baseball park in Jacksonville, Florida. It is the home stadium of the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp Minor League Baseball team, who play in the International League. The facility opened in 2003.
History
The Baseball Grounds were proposed as part of the city planning program known as the Better Jacksonville Plan. It was designed to replace the aging Wolfson Park, the previous home of the Double-A Southern League's Jacksonville Suns. The facility cost $34 million and broke ground in 2002, with construction being completed the following year. It became the first completed project of the Better Jacksonville Plan.
The Atlantic Coast Conference baseball championship was held at the venue from 2005 to 2008. The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets won the first ACC Tournament at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville, followed by the Clemson Tigers in 2006, the North Carolina Tar Heels in 2007, and the Miami Hurricanes in 2008.
The Baseball Grounds hosts an annual game between the Florida Gators and the Florida State Seminoles. The most recent game was on March 29, 2022, when Florida defeated Florida State 6–3 in front of 8,122 fans.{{cite web |last=Bortner |first=Sullivan |date=March 30, 2022 |title=No. 14 Gators Take Down No. 5 Florida State |url=https://floridagators.com/news/2022/3/30/baseball-no-14-gators-take-down-no-5-florida-state.aspx |access-date=March 30, 2022 |website=floridagators.com |publisher=University of Florida}}
The ballpark has twice hosted the Southern League All-Star Game. On July 8, 2003, the league's West Division All-Stars defeated the East Division All-Stars, 7–5, before 7,552 spectators.{{cite news|first=A. Stacy|last=Long|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49519176/city-purchase-approved/|via=Newspapers.com|title=City: Purchase Approved|work=The Montgomery Advertiser|location=Montgomery|date=July 9, 2003|page=C3}} On July 17, 2013, the South Division defeated the North Division, 6–0, in front of a crowd of 9,373.{{cite news |title=South Shuts Out North in Southern League All-Star Game|first=Jeff|last=Elliott|url=http://jacksonville.com/sports/baseball/2013-07-18/story/south-shuts-out-north-southern-league-all-star-game|newspaper=The Florida Times-Union|publisher=Morris Communications|date=July 17, 2013|access-date=February 23, 2014}}
The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp became the Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins in 2021 and shifted from the Southern League to the Triple-A East.{{cite web|last=Mayo|first=Jonathan|title=MLB Announces New Minors Teams, Leagues|url=https://www.mlb.com/news/new-minor-league-baseball-structure|website=Major League Baseball|date=February 12, 2021|access-date=February 12, 2021}}
File:Baseball grounds of jacksonville national map.jpg
The facility has nearly 6,000 stadium-style chairs and can accommodate more than 11,000 fans, with an old-fashioned design, brick facade and a grass seating berm and bleacher seating. It also features 12 luxury skyboxes, four skydecks, a large scoreboard and videoboard, a playground, and the "knuckle," a unique {{convert|9|ft|m|adj=mid|-high}} mound for seating at the left field corner. Other ballpark features include a souvenir shop, first aid facility, various seating levels and perspectives, an ample number of restrooms and concession areas, in-seat concession services behind home plate, wide concourse and seating aisles and a high-definition video scoreboard in left center field.
The park has an in-house video broadcast of games provided by The Schelldorf Television Network. The ballpark is located in downtown Jacksonville, situated between VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena and EverBank Stadium.
Following VyStar Credit Union's merger with 121 Financial, the name was changed to VyStar Ballpark. Along with the new name, the stadium will be getting a {{USD|31.8M}} upgrade, which is scheduled to be completed for the Jumbo Shrimp's 2025 home opener.{{cite web |last1=Brownlee |first1=Briana |title=Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp ballpark getting new name, $31M renovations |url=https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2024/12/06/jacksonville-jumbo-shrimp-ballpark-getting-new-name-31m-renovations/ |website=News4JAX.com |publisher=Graham Media Group |access-date=12 February 2025 |date=December 6, 2024}}
Attendance records
The largest crowd for a baseball game at the ballpark was 12,943, which occurred on April 11, 2003 during the grand opening of the park in a game between the Jacksonville Suns and the Huntsville Stars.{{cite web |title=Jacksonville Suns Media Guide|url=http://www.milb.com/documents/7/0/0/169962700/Jacksonville_2016_Media_Guide_zil383im.pdf}}
File:FloridaVsFSUBaseballGroundsJacksonville.jpg face the Florida State Seminoles]]
References
{{reflist|2}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- [https://www.milb.com/jacksonville/ballpark/ Official website]
- [https://archive.today/20091026041929/http://www.geocities.com/pauls2006parks/Stadiums/Jacksonville_New/Jacksonville_New.htm Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville Views – Ball Parks of the Minor Leagues]
{{Jacksonville attractions}}
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