121 Financial Ballpark Explained

Stadium Name:121 Financial Ballpark
Location:301 A. Philip Randolph Boulevard
Jacksonville, Florida
United States
Coordinates:30.325°N -81.6431°W
Former Names:Jacksonville Baseball Park (planning/construction)
Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville (2003–2014, 2017–2019)[1]
Community First Park (2015–16)
Broke Ground:December 11, 2001[2]
Opened:April 11, 2003
Owner:City of Jacksonville
Operator:ASM Global
Surface:Grass
Construction Cost:$34 million
($ in dollars)
Architect:Populous
Project Manager:Gilbane/Scheer/Renaissance[3]
Structural Engineer:Bliss & Nyitray, Inc.[4]
Services Engineer:John J. Christie & Associates, PC[5]
General Contractor:Barton Malow
Tenants:Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (SL/AAAE/IL) 2003–present
Jacksonville Armada FC (NASL) 2015–2016
Seating Capacity:11,000 (baseball)
Dimensions:Left field: 321feet
Center field: 420feet
Right field: 317feet[6]

121 Financial Ballpark (originally the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville) is a baseball park in Jacksonville, Florida. It is the home stadium of the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp Minor League Baseball team, who play in the International League. The facility opened in 2003.

History

The Baseball Grounds were proposed as part of the city planning program known as the Better Jacksonville Plan. It was designed to replace the aging Wolfson Park, the previous home of the Double-A Southern League's Jacksonville Suns. The facility cost $34 million and broke ground in 2002, with construction being completed the following year.[2] It became the first completed project of the Better Jacksonville Plan.

The Atlantic Coast Conference baseball championship was held at the venue from 2005 to 2008. The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets won the first ACC Tournament at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville, followed by the Clemson Tigers in 2006, the North Carolina Tar Heels in 2007, and the Miami Hurricanes in 2008.[2]

The Baseball Grounds hosts an annual game between the Florida Gators and the Florida State Seminoles. The most recent game was on March 29, 2022, when Florida defeated Florida State 6–3 in front of 8,122 fans.[7]

The ballpark has twice hosted the Southern League All-Star Game. On July 8, 2003, the league's West Division All-Stars defeated the East Division All-Stars, 7–5, before 7,552 spectators.[8] On July 17, 2013, the South Division defeated the North Division, 6–0, in front of a crowd of 9,373.[9]

The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp became the Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins in 2021 and shifted from the Southern League to the Triple-A East.[10]

Features

The facility has nearly 6,000 stadium-style chairs and can accommodate more than 11,000 fans, with an old-fashioned design, brick facade and a grass seating berm and bleacher seating. It also features 12 luxury skyboxes, four skydecks, a large scoreboard and videoboard, a playground, and the "knuckle," a unique 9adj=midNaNadj=mid mound for seating at the left field corner. Other ballpark features include a souvenir shop, first aid facility, various seating levels and perspectives, an ample number of restrooms and concession areas, in-seat concession services behind home plate, wide concourse and seating aisles and a high-definition video scoreboard in left center field.[2]

The park has an in-house video broadcast of games provided by The Schelldorf Television Network. The ballpark is located in downtown Jacksonville, situated between VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena and EverBank Stadium.[2]

Attendance records

The largest crowd for a baseball game at the ballpark was 12,943, which occurred on April 11, 2003 during the grand opening of the park in a game between the Jacksonville Suns and the Huntsville Stars.[11]

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Suns' Ticket Holders Take Seat at New Park. Jeff. Elliott. The Florida Times-Union. Morris Communications. January 12, 2003. December 3, 2013.
  2. Web site: Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. Graham. Knight. Baseball Pilgrimages. August 16, 2003. February 23, 2014.
  3. Web site: Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. Barton Malow Company. September 24, 2011. April 25, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120425094231/http://www.bartonmalow.com/projects/jacksoville-baseball-grounds. dead.
  4. Web site: Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. Bliss & Nyitray Inc. September 24, 2011.
  5. Web site: Projects. John J. Christie & Associates, PC. September 24, 2011.
  6. Web site: Baseball Grounds History/Facts. Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. Minor League Baseball. February 6, 2020.
  7. Web site: Bortner . Sullivan . March 30, 2022 . No. 14 Gators Take Down No. 5 Florida State . March 30, 2022 . floridagators.com . University of Florida Baseball Website.
  8. News: A. Stacy. Long. City: Purchase Approved. Newspapers.com. The Montgomery Advertiser. Montgomery. July 9, 2003. C3.
  9. News: South Shuts Out North in Southern League All-Star Game. Jeff. Elliott. The Florida Times-Union. Morris Communications. July 17, 2013. February 23, 2014.
  10. Web site: Mayo. Jonathan. MLB Announces New Minors Teams, Leagues. Major League Baseball. February 12, 2021. February 12, 2021.
  11. Web site: Jacksonville Suns Media Guide.