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 Busch
Stadium
St. Louis, MO
Although Busch Stadium was once a multi purpose facility it
was one of
the best looking stadiums in baseball when it closed. For years there was talk
about a midtown sports stadium in downtown St. Louis. The
Cardinals
wanted a new ballpark after playing at
Sportsman's Park for more than four decades. In the early 1960s
Anheuser-Busch pledged $5 million toward the $20 million stadium
project. On May 24, 1964 ground was broken for a stadium on 30 acres in downtown
St. Louis. The
Cardinals played their first game on May 12, 1966 at
Busch Stadium. Four tiers of 46,068 red seats circled the entire
grass playing field and a $1.5 million scoreboard with an
electronic cardinal that chirped was located behind the outfield
fence. Busch Stadium was called one of the best stadiums in the
country when it opened.
Astroturf replaced natural grass in 1970 in order for the stadium to
be converted from football to baseball easier. For more than two decades
there were few changes at Busch Stadium. New ownership retrofitted Busch Stadium in 1995 after
football was no longer played at the stadium. Grass replaced the
Astroturf, new seats were added, and new scoreboards were added. The
bullpens were placed behind the outfield fence, and the area behind
the outfield was spruced up.
During the last ten years of its existence as when the stadium opened, fans flocked
to downtown St. Louis for Cardinals games, parking in the nearby
parking garages and walking to the stadium. As fans entered the
gates, they were at the main concourse level and could take ramps to
the upper levels of the stadium. Once seated, fans saw a sea of red
seats that enclosed the stadium. Busch Stadium consisted of four main
seating sections. The lower level of seating that once moved to form
the football section was between the foul poles and was closest to
the field It also had several rows of padded green luxury seats in the
first few rows that were added in 1995. Luxury suites,
the pressbox and game day operations were located on the third tier
of the stadium. Prior to renovations in the 1990s seats in the upper
deck circled the field. During the past ten years of the stadium's
existence, approximately 5,000 of these seats in the
outfield were covered up and replaced by a huge manual
scoreboard. This area also contained retired numbers, championship
flags and various other
Cardinals information.
Many amenities
were
added to Busch Stadium including the Family Pavilion, that had
many games and activities, Homer's Landing, a picnic area
overlooking the bullpen in left center field and a stadium club
restaurant and bar. Statues of Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Enos
Slaughter, Red Schoendienst and Jack Buck were located on the Plaza
of Champions outside the stadium. Although many fans would have probably
said that they liked and enjoyed Busch Stadium, the owners of the
Cardinals committed to building a new ballpark adjacent to
Busch Stadium in 2000. The Cardinals played their last game at Busch Stadium
in a playoff loss to the Houston Astros on October 19, 2005. The
stadium was demolished in November 2005 and the Cardinals moved
into the new Busch Stadium in April 2006.
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