Fifth Third Field (Toledo, Ohio)

Fifth Third Field
Location 406 Washington Street
Toledo, Ohio 43604
Coordinates 41°38′54″N 83°32′20″W / 41.64833°N 83.53889°W / 41.64833; -83.53889Coordinates: 41°38′54″N 83°32′20″W / 41.64833°N 83.53889°W / 41.64833; -83.53889
Owner Lucas County
Operator Toledo Mud Hens Baseball Club, Inc.
Capacity 10,300 (8,943 fixed seats)
Field size Left field: 320 ft
Center field: 400 ft
Right field: 320 ft
Surface Natural Grass
Construction
Broke ground October 20, 2000[1]
Opened April 9, 2002[2]
Construction cost $39,200,000
($51.7 million in 2016 dollars[3])
Architect HNTB
The Collaborative Inc.
Finkbeiner, Pettis & Strout Inc.
Project manager The Gateway Group[4]
Services engineer H. T. Bernsdorff, Inc[5]
General contractor Lathrop Construction Associates, Inc.[2]
Tenants
Toledo Mud Hens (IL) (2002–present)
Toledo Walleye (ECHL) (2014–2015)[6]

Fifth Third Field is the name of a minor league baseball stadium in Toledo, Ohio. The facility is home to the Toledo Mud Hens, an International League team and the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers.

The stadium seats 10,300 and opened in 2002. It hosted the 2006 Triple-A All-Star Game and home run derby. The stadium was named one of the best minor league ballparks in America by Newsweek.[7] In the summer of 2007, ESPN.com rated The Roost section of Fifth Third Field as the best seats to watch a game in minor league baseball.[8]

The Ohio-based Fifth Third Bank purchased the naming rights to the stadium.[9] Fifth Third Bank also holds the naming rights to Fifth Third Field in Dayton, Ohio, Fifth Third Ballpark in Comstock Park, Michigan and Fifth Third Arena on the campus of the University of Cincinnati.

Location

It is located in downtown Toledo, two blocks from the Maumee River. The new stadium replaced Ned Skeldon Stadium, located in suburban Maumee, Ohio, as the Mud Hens' home. Ned Skeldon Stadium was described as "quaint" or "rustic" and the new park was intended to boost development downtown.[10] A small commercial area has sprung up around the park, centered on St. Clair Street, on the park's southeast side.[11]

The street address is 406 Washington Street. The park is bounded by Washington Street (southwest, first base), North Huron Street (northwest, third base), Monroe Street/Henry Morse Way (northeast, left field) and Msgr. Jerome Schmidt Way/North St. Clair Street (southeast, right field).

The Fifth Third Field is part of a complex that includes the SeaGate Convention Centre and the Huntington Center (formerly known as the Lucas County Arena). The Lucas County Commissioners teamed with HNTB Architecture Inc., a national sports architecture firm located in Kansas City and local architects and landscape architects The Collaborative Inc, of Toledo to design the Mud Hens Stadium.[12]

Following nearly two years of planning, the Stadium, with assistance from the City of Toledo and Lucas County, embarked upon an entertainment district expansion creating the district known as Hensville. The $21 million expansion is expected to draw 150,000-200,000 more people to Toledo's downtown.[13] The entertainment district stretches along North St. Clair Street from Washington to Monroe streets, adjacent to the ballpark.[14] The area includes the expanded Swamp Shop, new retail shop Holy Toledo, several rooftop bars, Nine restaurant, Fleetwood’s Tap Room, and Hensville Park.[15] In addition to increased traffic for ballgames, the district will also hold events such as outdoor concerts, Monday movie nights, fireworks and other unique weekly events.[16]

Features

The ballpark's largest crowd occurred during the Mud Hens home opener on April 6, 2012 when 13,227 fans witnessed the Mud Hens defeat the Indianapolis Indians by the score of 5–1.[18]

Scoreboards

In 2009, the Mud Hens installed new ribbon scoreboards along the first base and third base sides of the ballpark. They are in color and can display a variety of graphics, stats, and the game score. Also, the Mud Hens replaced their Fair Play Scoreboards scoreboard and Barco video board with a huge Daktronics video board display in left field which is in color and is a complete matrix board that shows the line score of the game. It is also zoned on the top 70% where it shows the current batter, animations, games and replays. The new Daktronics video board also replaced the Fair Play message board below the old Fair Play scoreboard.[19]

References

  1. ↑ "Farr to Join Taft at Hens' Groundbreaking Ritual". Toledo Blade. October 20, 2000. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  2. 1 2 Knight, Graham (October 21, 2009). "Fifth Third Field". Baseball Pilgrimages. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  3. ↑ Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Community Development Project. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Gateway Sports & Recreation". The Gateway Group. Retrieved August 27, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Series 4G Grease Duct Saves Costs and Enhances Look of New Mudhens Stadium" (PDF). Metal Fabrication, Inc. Retrieved August 27, 2013.
  6. ↑ "Outdoor hockey coming to ECHL, Toledo". ECHL. Retrieved April 16, 2016.
  7. ↑ Starr, Mark (August 5, 2002). "Cheat Sheet: Minor-League Baseball". Newsweek. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
  8. ↑ Pahigian, Josh (May 10, 2008). "The Best of the Minor Leagues". ESPN. Retrieved May 10, 2008.
  9. ↑ Wagner, John (August 18, 2001). "Fifth Third Seals the Deal". Toledo Blade. pp. C1, C5. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
  10. ↑ de Boer, Roberta (January 6, 1999). "Ballpark's Bright Site Named Right". Toledo Blade. p. 12. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
  11. ↑ Eder, Steve (April 15, 2005). "Businesses Flock Near Hens". Toledo Blade. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
  12. ↑ Jones, Mike (February 9, 2000). "Ballpark Design Contracto Up for Vote". Toledo Blade. p. 12. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
  13. ↑ Guyton, Lissa. "Behind the scenes at new downtown Toledo entertainment district". www.13abc.com. Retrieved 2016-06-07.
  14. ↑ "Hensville is a game changer - The Blade". www.toledoblade.com. Retrieved 2016-06-07.
  15. ↑ "Hensville is a game changer - The Blade". www.toledoblade.com. Retrieved 2016-06-07.
  16. ↑ "Hensville is a game changer - The Blade". www.toledoblade.com. Retrieved 2016-06-07.
  17. ↑ "Fifth Third Field - By the Numbers". Toledo Mud Hens Baseball Club, Inc. February 19, 2010. Retrieved September 22, 2011.
  18. ↑ "Holy Toledo! Opening Day Crowd Sets Record!". Toledo Mud Hens Baseball Club, Inc. April 6, 2012. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
  19. ↑ "Toledo Mud Hens to Reveal New Daktronics Displays for 2009 Season" (Press release). Daktronics. March 19, 2009. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fifth Third Field (Toledo, Ohio).
Events and tenants
Preceded by
Ned Skeldon Stadium		 Home of the Toledo Mud Hens
2002–present 		Succeeded by
current
Preceded by
Raley Field		 Site of the Triple-A All-Star Game
2006 		Succeeded by
Isotopes Park
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