| Home |
| The Parks |
| The People |
| Video |
| Links |
| About Me |
| Email Me |
Created by:
Jeff LeCrone
|
Keyspan Park |
 |
|
The majority of the minor league ballparks built in the last decade or so have been built according to a tried and true template. Unfortunately for the people who have been to a lot of ballparks, there sometimes isn't a lot of variation on the designs, even if the region or team lends itself to the exploitation of a theme. Keyspan Park, however boldly breaks out of that mold. While it is built on the same template as most new parks these days, the designers worked overtime to create a park that celebrates both the surrounding area and Brooklyn's rich baseball history. Astroland, the amusement park at Coney Island, sits just a few blocks down from this ballpark, creating a wonderful view over the left field fence, especially at night when the lights on the rides are flashing. And, as if that wasn't enough, the Atlantic Ocean is visible beyond the right field wall. There aren't many parks with a better background, and this one makes perfect use of it. The lights on the concourse ceiling have multicolored shades on them. The parts of the concourse that aren't covered by luxury boxes have angular pavilions. There is a boardwalk connecting the infield seats from the outfield seats. The stadium lights each have a giant neon ring around them. An old parachute ride that was once a popular attraction on the beach still stands beyond the right field corner. The scoreboard features a silloughette of the "Cyclone" roller coaster, for which the team was named. And those are just a few of the nice touches. In short, everything about this place screams "boardwalk amusement park". But while the park earns high marks for design, the Brooklyn fans may contribute even more to the park's atmosphere. Having been without baseball since the Dodgers skipped town many decades ago, these fans are baseball starved and are delirious to have the sport back in their neighborhood, even if it is a minor league team. And let me tell you, Brooklyn fans are everything you might expect them to be. And then some. The only drawback is that the neighborhood of the park is everything you'd expect Brooklyn to be, as well. But, this does not keep the crowds from coming. The crowd here has an unmistakable energy, which is more than evident by the fact that they lead the New York-Penn League in attendance with an average of well over 8,000 fans a game. In a league where most teams struggle to average half of that amount, this is a very impressive number. Bottom Line: Wow. From the design to the placement to the crowd, this place is outstanding. This is one of the best new parks.
|
|
