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Home > Issue by Date > September 2007

One For The Team

The new Busch Stadium ushers in the next era for the St. Louis Cardinals.

By Anne Vazquez

When the St. Louis Cardinals won the 2006 World Series in its home stadium, it was the proverbial icing on the cake for the team. That season was the first the major league baseball team played in its new ballpark, Busch Stadium. The previous ballpark, located adjacent to the site of the new facility, had served as the team’s home since it was built in 1966 and held much history for the ball club. However, in the late 1990s, discussions about building a new stadium began to intensify.

In 1996, then owner Anheuser-Busch sold the baseball team, its stadium, and additional surrounding property. The new principal owner, Bill DeWitt, Jr., and his management team began to evaluate the existing stadium to determine its potential for the next several decades.

Joe Abernathy, vice president of stadium operations for the St. Louis Cardinals, explains, “Throughout the early 90s, we spent millions of dollars to make improvements, and around 1997, we found ourselves at a point where we had done about everything we could. We had used up every square inch of space.”

The Cardinals had hired HOK Sport of Kansas City, MO for the work done during the 1990s, and when considering whether to stay or go, the team turned to the architecture firm to help evaluate the situation. “In working with us on the old stadium, HOK Sport began to understand the Cardinals’ operations philosophy,” says Abernathy. “So, it was natural for us to go to them first. They helped us conduct a thorough evaluation and study to decide what more we could do with the park. We could have upgraded mechanical systems, electrical systems, and the like, but we decided the best way for future revenue enhancement was to go with a new ballpark.”

Another factor in the decision to build a new facility was that the old stadium was built as a multipurpose facility for both baseball and football games. The opportunity to build a stadium exclusively for baseball was very attractive to the owners.

“We engaged HOK Sport in the initial conceptual planning as we began to envision what we wanted this place to be,” says Abernathy. The location of the new stadium was primary in this vision. For 30 years, the Cardinals had been located in downtown St. Louis near major roadways and public transportation, and the owners liked the idea of remaining there. Sited adjacent to the existing stadium was a parking lot owned by the Cardinals, and that property quickly became a possibility.

“We thought it would be great if we could put a ballpark there,” recalls Abernathy. “Initially, the site was deemed not big enough for our needs, but it was the right place from a parking and transportation standpoint.” Ultimately, while some changes were required to surrounding roadways, and phased construction would be necessary due to the proximity of the old stadium, the team decided on the adjacent site for the new ballpark.

This site choice also enabled the Cardinals to pursue a mixed-use development on the old stadium site. The six-block area—Ballpark Village—will feature retail, business, and residential establishments and is expected to be complete in 2009.

Architectural Approach

The St. Louis Cardinals have an undeniable place in the heart of the city, and the new stadium offered the chance to increase this sentiment by linking the team visually. One of the first things the design team did was to orient the playing field so fans behind home plate would look out on the downtown skyline, complete with the St. Louis Gateway Arch.

“We also didn’t want the ballpark totally enclosed. We wanted to make that connection to the city,” says Abernathy. “This approach was well done in Pittsburgh with their park. The views there are just gorgeous.” [To learn about Pittsburgh’s stadium, read the TFM article, “PNC Park Hits A Grand Slam” by Heidi Schwartz, February 2004, page 22; online at www.todaysfacilitymanager.com/tfm_04_02_showcase.asp.]

In addition to opening up the stadium to downtown views, the architects at HOK Sport were also tasked with designing a facility with a pleasing architectural scale. Jim Chibnall, senior project designer from HOK Sport, explains, “We tried to create a consistent architectural vocabulary with the brick and the openings around the stadium. This is a very large building, and we needed to do that in a way that mediated the scale, so we introduced entry points at the corners. This began to suggest a level of scale and proportion the Cardinals desired.”

Designing The New Stadium

Beyond revenue enhancement, the team identified several things central to the design of the new ballpark. The first was to optimize sightlines from the stadium seating. “The Cardinals wanted HOK Sport to design a facility that was strictly for the game of baseball,” explains Chibnall. “Most fans like to experience the game from the foul poles in, so we looked to maximize the seating from foul pole to foul pole, in the infields.” Another objective was to site as many of the 43,975 seats as close to the field as possible.

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Specialty seating areas and related amenities were paramount to the new building program. Included in this plan was the Cardinals Club, which featured 600 seats directly behind home plate.” It makes it a great experience for the fans,” says Abernathy, also noting that food, beverage, and parking fees are included in the price of the game ticket in that section.

Suites were also of prime importance to how the building was configured. “We didn’t necessarily want to increase the number of suites from what we had in the old building,” explains Abernathy. “However, we concentrated on making the 63 suites bigger and of better quality. All the suites are now located on the infield. We stacked them on two levels between first and third base, within the foul poles. We also pushed them down lower in the building.”

Creating a club level chock full of amenities was also important. Despite the many improvements at the old stadium, Abernathy notes, “We never achieved a full blown club level there, a specialty interior concourse where people in those seats could access premium concessions.” In the new stadium, the club level is located adjacent to 3,000 seats.

In terms of mapping out the spaces, party rooms were an important component. Historically, group sales for the Cardinals are very popular, explains Abernathy. “One of the features that has helped us make that work are the party rooms,” he says. “We differentiate the party rooms from the suites, as they are a premium area sold on a game by game basis as opposed to a season basis.”

The 45 party rooms offer a variety of sizes. Other club areas provide settings for private gatherings, from conference rooms that hold 16 people to the outdoor Ford Plaza with a 2,500 person capacity. In between, there is the Cardinals Club, which can hold up to 500 people, and the Bank of America Club with a capacity of 100 for non-baseball events.

How people would enter into and circulate through the stadium was a significant focus as well. The old stadium featured a series of ramps, which was the primary mode of movement. Thirteen elevators and nine escalators were placed in the new stadium, a substantial improvement from the old facility, which had two elevators and no escalators.

“Achieving full ADA compliance was important to us,” says Abernathy. “In the old building, we had done many things to address compliance, but building the new stadium enabled us to become fully compliant with the ADA.”

The stadium was also sited in such a way that 40% of the seats are accessible from the main concourse level, without requiring the use of an escalator or elevator. In the old stadium, about 20% of the seats offered this accessibility.

Stadiums Side By Side

The team broke ground in January 2004 with the goal to be ready for the 2006 season. Abernathy notes that this timetable is fairly typical for new ballparks the size of Busch Stadium. However, the fact that the existing stadium would remain operational, in addition to its close proximity to the construction site, required extra planning.

The team decided on a phased construction approach in order to build the stadium in a logical fashion while adhering to the schedule. The demolition of the existing stadium was planned for October 2005, six months prior to completion of the new facility.

Abernathy notes, “A lot of our design decisions were impacted by the phased approach as we understood where the old building would overlap with the new structure. For instance, the new stadium doesn’t have a full basement where the two buildings overlapped.”

The seats in the new stadium that would be nearest to the existing stadium were another issue. “Once the old stadium came down, there would be about 10,000 seats that remained to be built by April 2006,” explains Chibnall. “About 5,000 were completed by Opening Day, and the remaining seats would be complete by the July All-Star break.” In fact, all seats were in by June of that year.

A challenge in terms of operations was also present, since the existing stadium would be in use throughout virtually the entire construction period. And as it happens, the two baseball seasons during which construction occurred saw record attendance.

Opening day in 2004 included a visit from President George W. Bush, who threw the ceremonial first pitch. The Cardinals made it to the post season both years including the World Series in 2004 where they lost to the Boston Red Sox and the National League Championship Series in 2005. During each of those seasons, over three million people visited the stadium.

“We had so much activity occurring in the existing park while building the new park that in some cases was just 20 feet away,” says Abernathy. “Most of our parking was taken away when construction began. Also, the access we used to our loading dock was the same access the contractors used to enter the job site. The coordination required and the impact on operations was quite significant and required constant vigilance on our part and the contractors’ part to ensure the safety of our guests as well as the progress of the project.”

Technology Aids Operations

As with most new facilities, modern building systems were a priority in the new Busch Stadium. The network infrastructure was built around a fiber optic backbone capable of accommodating a variety of systems. The computer network and the VoIP telephone system were placed on this backbone.

The fiber optic backbone also enabled Abernathy to install an upgraded security system. “We were able to create a digital security network so we record all surveillance video digitally, rather than on VHS tape,” he says. “The presence of the fiber backbone enabled us to invest in more cameras, since the wiring these would require was already in place.”

In addition to the increased number of cameras, the team installed mega-pixel cameras, which provide images with very high resolution. Abernathy notes that these cameras were placed at crucial locations where identifying a person’s face would be important.

On the wireless front, Abernathy explains that they wanted to provide a robust network in the stadium for several reasons. “We have many members of the media that come into the building who need Internet access, and we developed a virtually fully wireless building,” he says. “We worked with cell phone providers to reinforce their signals in the building to address cell phone usage and Internet access. This also gives fans the ability to use their wireless devices while in the ballpark.”

The upgraded technology in the new stadium required Abernathy to work more closely with the organization’s IT department, and it is something he embraces while also noting the growing link between facilities management and IT operations. “When there is a problem with a building system, I need them to be there with my electrician and my mechanical technician, so when we’re evaluating a problem, we know if it’s a straight electrical issue or a network problem. We now have those resources that are part of our regular operations team.”

Settling Back In

A year and a half out from its opening, the new stadium has quickly become a distinctive part of St. Louis as Abernathy and his staff continue to improve it. “As any facility manager knows, there is always something that needs improvement,” he says. “We have spent more than $3 million in the building in between this last off season to make improvements, which included adding three escalators. But, we’ve had very good feedback. The fans love the architecture of the building, the wider concourses, and the seating angles.”

Says Chibnall, “The Cardinals and the design team really captured the spirit of a new baseball park in the city. It’s an exceptional place to watch baseball.” Those who take in a game at Busch Stadium should be sure to agree.

This article was based on interviews with Abernathy (jabernathy@stlcardinals.com) and Chibnall (media@hoksve.com).

To share your new construction or renovation story, send an e-mail to avazquez@groupc.com. Past Showcase features can be found on the Web at www.TodaysFacilityManager.com.

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