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Facilities

Fenway Park Marks Its Centennial, Remains Oldest U.S. Sports Facility Still In Use

The Red Sox will celebrate the 100th anniversary of Fenway Park Friday afternoon, and while the ballpark is the “oldest facility in any of the major U.S. sports leagues still in active and continuous use,” the venue “remains the quirkiest, most unusual ballpark in MLB,” according to Eric Fisher of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. Fenway has been an “inspiration for dozens of other newer facilities, and has sparked its own literary subgenre with writers such as John Updike famously dubbing Fenway ‘a lyric little bandbox of a ballpark.’” The fact it is at the century mark also “contains an unlikely comeback story that on paper would probably be too unrealistic for Hollywood scriptwriters.” Fenway is “still the fourth-smallest ballpark in MLB,” but it now has a “stronger infrastructure and generates more revenue than many competing facilities less than half its age.” Fisher notes the “milestone for the Red Sox is more about creating a dialogue among the fan base.” Red Sox Senior Adviser Dr. Charles Steinberg said, “It’s really less about message, and more about the environment we’re trying to create about the personal connection people feel to this ballpark.” Much of Fenway Park’s century of history can be “distilled into the recent decade-long run of renovation work by the current John Henry-led ownership group.” The $285M effort conducted during offseasons remains “privately financed and involved no major rancor from public-sector officials regarding approvals.” The Red Sox for years “have conducted regular focus groups, particularly among season-ticket holders, to gauge their receptiveness to additional facility changes.” Team Exec VP & COO Sam Kennedy:“We have repeatedly come out to them and said, ‘Are you OK with this?’ before we did anything. And admittedly, people were nervous, particularly early on” (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 4/16 issue).

PRESERVING HISTORY: USA TODAY’s Seth Livingstone notes the “vision to produce today’s Fenway emerged through the eyes” of current Orioles VP/Planning & Development Janet Marie Smith, who worked for the Red Sox from '02-09. Smith also teamed with current Red Sox President & CEO Larry Lucchino on the design of Camden Yards when both were with the Orioles in the early '90s. She said of Fenway, “It was important to try to save because it’s been a model for a whole generation of ballparks.” Livingstone notes the Red Sox think the money "they spent on renovations in a 10-year span should make the park, which now seats more than 37,000, viable for the next 40 years or so” (USA TODAY, 4/20). In Providence, Tim Britton writes “preserving the character of the ballpark through the changes was paramount.” Kennedy: “The operating philosophy was, ‘Do no harm to Fenway,’ because you could do a lot of things that would screw up the fundamental nature of it” (PROVIDENCE JOURNAL, 4/20). Friday's edition of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” aired live from Fenway Park, with co-hosts Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski and Willie Geist broadcasting from the field. Geist said, “We should credit this morning, as you all know, to the ownership group here for saving this stadium and making it what it looks like today” ("Morning Joe," MSNBC, 4/20).

ODE TO THE BALLPARK: In Boston, John Powers writes Fenway’s “endearing quirkiness is much of its allure.” Except for “some increased seating and creature comforts, the park has remained largely unchanged since it opened in 1912 in the same week that the Titanic sank” (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/20). A HARTFORD COURANT editorial states Fenway is “so memorable not just for its hues, but for its nooks and idiosyncrasies: the Citgo sign, the Green Monster, Pesky's pole, etc.” As the “grand old ballpark celebrates its 100th anniversary Friday, the key to understanding its magic is in why it is built with strange angles and corners” (HARTFORD COURANT, 4/20). SI’s Steve Rushin writes Fenway “remains upright, flourishing at 100, impossible to kill by fire, by old age or even by its own hand.” As ballparks go, it is “The Un-Dead, though devotion to it has seldom been undying” (SI, 4/23 issue). CBS’ Mark Strassmann was given a tour of Fenway by actor and Massachusetts native Denis Leary, with Leary saying, “When I got older and I started to go to other ballparks, that’s when I started to realize how special the place was” (“CBS This Morning,” CBS, 4/20).

BEHIND THE SCENES: The Red Sox Thursday held an open house that drew close to 54,000 people. Fans had the opportunity to walk on the warning track, sit in the dugouts, see the bullpens, touch the Green Monster and look into the manual scoreboard inside the left field wall (Red Sox). In Boston, Danielle Rivard notes some fans “waited in line to meet former Red Sox greats, while others relaxed in the seats and enjoyed ballpark food.” Plenty of fans “took advantage of the near all-access pass” (BOSTON HERALD, 4/20). Steinberg said, “The open house is a time to stop, savor, reflect, take a look at the many bronze plaques, see what was here 100 years ago, what was new ten years ago, what's new this year. It's really designed to foster communication, foster environment, foster mood and just give people a chance to enjoy the ballpark when it's at rest” ("NESN Daily," NESN, 4/19). Lucchino: “The open house has been more well received than we ever dreamed it would be. We're really pleased and proud that so many people would come from so far, walk around the ballpark, get around, get a feel of the place” (MLB.com, 4/19).

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