Busch Memorial Stadium

For the current St. Louis Cardinals ballpark, see Busch Stadium.

Busch Stadium
Former names	Civic Center Busch Memorial Stadium (1966-1981) Busch Stadium (1982-2005)
Location	250 Stadium Plaza, St. Louis, Missouri 63102
Coordinates	38°37′26″N 90°11′33″W
Broke ground	May 25, 1964
Built	1964-1966
Opened	May 12, 1966
Closed	October 22, 1995 (NFL) October 19, 2005 (MLB)
Demolished	November 7-December 8, 2005
Owner	St. Louis Cardinals
Operator	St. Louis Cardinals
Surface	Grass (1966-1969, 1996-2005) AstroTurf (1970-1995)
Construction cost	$24 million ($170 million in 2013 dollars)
Architect	Sverdrup & Parcel Edward Durell Stone Schwarz & Van Hoefen, Associated
General contractor	Grün & Bilfinger
Capacity	Baseball: 49,676 (1997-2005) 57,676 (1966-1996) Football: 60,292
Field dimensions	Left Field - 330 ft (101 m) Left-Center - 372 ft (113 m) Center Field - 402 ft (123 m) Right-Center - 372 ft (113 m) Right Field - 330 ft (101 m) Backstop - 64 ft (20 m) Original Dimensions (1966) Left Field - 330 ft (101 m) Left-Center - 386 ft (118 m) Center Field - 414 ft (126 m) Right-Center - 386 ft (118 m) Right Field - 330 ft (101 m) Backstop - 64 ft (20 m)
Tenants
St. Louis Cardinals (MLB) (1966-2005) St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) (1966-1987) St. Louis Stars (NPSL / NASL) (1967-1974) St. Louis Rams (NFL) (1995)

Busch Memorial Stadium, also known as Busch Stadium, was a multi-purpose sports facility in St. Louis, Missouri that operated from 1966 to 2005.

The stadium served as the home of the St. Louis Cardinals National League baseball team for its entire operating existence, while also serving as home to the National Football League's Cardinals team from 1966 to 1987. It opened four days after the last baseball game was played in Sportsman's Park (which had also been known since 1953 as Busch Stadium).

The stadium was designed by Sverdrup & Parcel and built by Grün & Bilfinger. Edward Durrell Stone designed the roof, a 96-arch "Crown of Arches," The Crown echoed the Gateway Arch, which had been completed only a year before Busch Stadium opened. It was one of the first multipurpose "cookie-cutter" facilities built in the United States, popular from the early 1960s through the early 1980s,

The stadium was demolished by wrecking ball in late 2005, and part of its former footprint is used by its replacement stadium, the new Busch Stadium.

Seating capacity

Baseball

• 49,275 (1966)
• 49,450 (1967–1970)
• 50,126 (1971–1978)
• 50,222 (1979–1986)
• 53,138 (1987)
• 54,224 (1988–1989)
• 54,727 (1990–1994)
• 57,078 (1995)
• 57,673 (1996)
• 49,676 (1997–2000)
• 50,345 (2001–2005)

Football

• 51,392 (1966)
• 54,692 (1967–1994)
• 60,292 (1995)

History

Construction

The baseball Cardinals had been tenants of Sportsman's Park since 1920. In 1958, Charles Farris, the city's head of development, proposed a new stadium downtown as the core of a plan to revive a 31-block area of the business district. The original design of the stadium had called for a baseball-only format, but the design was altered to accommodate football.^{[citation needed]} With support from the local Chamber of Commerce, the Civic Center Redevelopment Corporation was established in September 1959; it was given power of eminent domain, which it used to condemn the city's small Chinatown, the Grand Theater (a strip club), and various warehouses and flophouses.

Groundbreaking occurred on May 25, 1964. The plan also included parking garages, a hotel (a Stouffer's hotel), and office buildings. A few years later, it also became the new home of the Spanish Pavilion from the 1964 New York World's Fair.

Subsequent years

The stadium's grass was replaced with AstroTurf in 1970.^{[citation needed]} In 1976, its dirt infield was also replaced with AstroTurf, except for sliding pits around the bases.

In 1981, Anheuser-Busch paid $53 million for what had been known as Civic Center Busch Memorial Stadium; the price included the parking garages.

New and old Busch Stadiums.

Over the years the grounds became home to bronze statues of Stan Musial, Enos Slaughter, Dizzy Dean, Rogers Hornsby, Red Schoendienst, Lou Brock, Bob Gibson, James 'Cool Papa Bell, George Sisler, Jack Buck and Ozzie Smith.^{[citation needed]}

Following Busch's last 1995 event—the Rams' last home game prior to the opening of the now-Edward Jones Dome—the Cardinals retrofitted it into a baseball-only stadium. A large section of the upper deck outfield seats was closed, replaced with a hand-operated scoreboard and flags commemorating the Cardinals' retired numbers. The stadium's AstroTurf field was replaced with natural grass, and the outfield walls were repainted green from their original blue.^{[citation needed]}

Demolition

Old Busch Stadium in the process of being torn down.

Busch Memorial Stadium was originally slated to be imploded like most modern-day stadium demolitions to be able to finish construction on the new stadium in time for the 2006 season. However, due to fear of damaging the nearby Metro subway rail line and stadium station, it was decided to tear down the stadium with a wrecking ball piece-by-piece over a period of a few weeks.

Demolition of the stadium began at 3:07 p.m. Central Standard Time on November 7, 2005, and was completed shortly after midnight on December 8, 2005.

Part of the footprint of the old stadium is now occupied by the outfield of the current stadium. The Cardinals had planned to build Ballpark Village on the site of the stadium ($320 million for the first phase). It was to consist of boutiques and restaurants, condominium apartments anchored by the new headquarters of Centene Corporation -- all to be built in time for the 2009 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

None of the construction has occurred and locals derisively refer to its rain soaked unfinished status as "Lake Dewitt" -- after Cardinal President William DeWitt, Jr. The Cardinals in March 2009 announced the site would be used for a softball field and parking during the game.

Uses

Football

Busch Stadium was the home of the St. Louis Cardinals of the National Football League, beginning with that team's 1966 season. They remained there through the 1987 season. However, the stadium was one of the smaller facilities in the NFL, never seating more than 60,000. After efforts to get a larger stadium failed, owner Bill Bidwill moved the team to Phoenix, Arizona after the 1987 season.

Busch Stadium was also briefly the home of the St. Louis Rams, who relocated from Anaheim Stadium in Anaheim, California, to move into the new and nearby Trans World Dome, later renamed the Edward Jones Dome. Since construction on their new home was delayed, the Rams played their first four 1995 games at Busch Stadium.

The stadium never hosted a playoff game during the Cardinals' 28-year run in St. Louis. The "Gridbirds" made only three playoff appearances during that stretch, losing at the Minnesota Vikings in 1974, Los Angeles Rams in 1975 and Green Bay Packers in 1982.

Baseball

Lou Brock stealing at Busch Stadium vs the Atlanta Braves, 1975.

In its opening year, Busch Stadium hosted the 1966 All-Star Game, a 2-1 National League victory in 10 innings most notable for being played in humid 105 °F (41 °C) temperatures. The stadium hosted World Series games in six different seasons: 1967, 1968, 1982, 1985, 1987, and 2004. The Cardinals won the World Series in 1967 and 1982 while playing in the stadium (the 1982 World Series was won at the stadium). The 1968 and 2004 World Series were clinched in Busch Stadium as well by the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox respectively.

The stadium was also the site of Mark McGwire's historic 62nd home run of the 1998 season that broke Roger Maris' single-season record, and also of McGwire's 70th of that season, for a record which lasted until Barry Bonds surpassed it in 2001. The dimensions in center and the power alleys had been altered from time to time over the years. Initially the park was very favorable to pitchers, with spacious outfield dimensions. Consequently, its design (as well as the Astroturf surface) was favorable to the Cardinals' style of play for most of the time from the 1960s through the 1990s, which emphasized good baserunning and extra-base hits. Later changes attempted to make the outfield better balanced between pitching and power hitting.

Concerts

Acts performing at Busch Stadium include:

• The Beatles, on August 21, 1966, during their final North American Tour.
• Jeff Beck, Ted Nugent, Jefferson Starship and Fleetwood Mac, as part of "Super Jam 76"
• The Rolling Stones, on September 17, 1989 during their Steel Wheels Tour
• U2 on September 20, 1992m during their Zoo TV Tour
• Paul McCartney on April 29, 1993, during The New World Tour

External links

• Ballparks of Baseball-Busch Stadium-St. Louis Cardinals
• Ballparks by Munsey and Suppes - Busch Stadium
• Busch Stadium III Construction Time-Lapse
• Busch Stadium history, from the Major League Baseball website
• Busch Stadium, from the Sporting News
• Last call for Busch and A toast to Busch, articles from the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch
• Busch Stadium Demolition Diary