Turner Field

This article is about the baseball stadium. For the United States Marine Corps airfield known by this name, see Marine Corps Air Facility Quantico.

Turner Field
The Ted
Former names	Centennial Olympic Stadium (1996)
Location	755 Hank Aaron Drive Atlanta, Georgia 30315
Coordinates	33°44′7″N 84°23′22″W
Opened	July 19, 1996 (1996 Olympics) March 30, 1997 (baseball)
Owner	Atlanta Fulton County Recreation Authority
Operator	Atlanta Braves
Surface	Grass
Construction cost	$209 Million ($310 million in 2012 dollars)
Architect	Heery International; Rosser International; Williams-Russell and Johnson; Ellerbe Becket
Project Manager	Atlanta Stadium Constructors (a joint venture of Beers Construction Co., HJ Russell Construction Co. and CD Moody Construction Co.)
Capacity	1996 Summer Olympics: 85,000 Baseball: 50,097 with standing room at least 54,357
Field dimensions	Left Field - 335 ft (102 m) Left-Center - 380 ft (116 m) Center Field - 401 ft (122 m) Right-Center - 390 ft (119 m) Right Field - 330 ft (100.5 m) Backstop - 43 ft (13 m)
Tenants
Atlanta Braves (MLB) (1997–present) 1996 Summer Olympics (opening and closing ceremonies, track and field venue) Georgia Bulldogs vs. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets baseball, one game annually (2003-present)

View from the outfield.

Turner Field exterior from Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard

Turner Field during a rain delay.

Turner Field is a stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, home to Major League Baseball's Atlanta Braves since 1997. Turner Field was originally built as Centennial Olympic Stadium, it was completed in 1996 to serve as the centerpiece of the 1996 Summer Olympics. After the games, the stadium was converted into a baseball park to serve as the new home of the Braves.

History

The ballpark was built across the street from the former home of the Braves, Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, which was demolished in the summer of 1997. From 2002 to 2004, the failed Fanplex entertainment center was located adjacent to the stadium's parking lot. The stadium contains 5,372 club seats, 64 luxury suites, and three party suites.

The most popular name choice among Atlanta residents for the new stadium at the time of its construction (according to a poll in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution) was Hank Aaron Stadium. After the ballpark was instead named after Ted Turner, the city of Atlanta renamed the section of Capitol Avenue on which the stadium sits Hank Aaron Drive, giving Turner Field the street number 755, after Aaron's home run total. The stadium is sometimes referred to as "The Ted," after Turner's first name.

1996 Summer Olympics

The stadium was originally constructed as the 85,000-seat Centennial Olympic Stadium and used for the 1996 Summer Olympics. Immediately after the 1996 Summer Paralympics, which followed the Olympics, much of the north end of the stadium was removed in order to convert it to its permanent use as a 49,000-seat baseball park. The stadium has hosted the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball since 1997, following a multimillion-dollar renovation to retrofit the stadium for baseball by removing the temporary stands that had made up nearly half the stadium and building the outfield stands and other attractions behind them. It was the site of the 2000 MLB All-Star Game.

After the 1996 Olympics were complete the stadium was officially leased by the Atlanta Braves. Private entities, including NBC and other Olympic sponsors, agreed to pay a large sum of the cost to build Centennial Olympic Stadium (approximately $170 million of the $209 million bill). The Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG) sought to build the stadium in a way that it could be converted to a new baseball stadium, and ACOG paid for the conversion. This was considered a good agreement for both the Olympic Committee and the Braves, because there would be no use for a permanent 85,000 seat track and field stadium in Downtown Atlanta, as the 71,000 seat Georgia Dome had been completed 4 years earlier by the state of Georgia. Furthermore, the Braves had already been exploring opportunities for a new stadium. The Atlanta Fulton County Recreation Authority owns Turner Field and the Atlanta Braves have leased the field through 2016.

Because of the need to fit a track within the stadium in its earlier incarnation, the field of play, particularly foul territory, while not large by historical standards, is still larger than most new MLB stadiums.

Seating Capacity

• 85,000 (1996 olympics)
• 50,528 (1997)
• 49,714 (1997-2000)
• 50,096 (2001-2007)
• 49,743 (2008-2010)
• 49,586 (2011-present)

College baseball

Since 2003, the NCAA baseball teams of Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia, which had previously played two games on each school's campus, replaced one of the home and home pairs in favor of a third game at Turner Field. This rivalry game at Turner Field is one of the most attended games in college baseball, with the 2004 game drawing 28,836—larger than that year's College World Series games.

Renovations

Significant renovations to the stadium were put into place for the 2005 season. Among the improvements was installation of a $10 million video display, which was at the time listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest high definition video board. Since then, other stadiums including Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas, the current Yankee Stadium in The Bronx and a horse track in Tokyo have installed larger boards. The current world record is the high-definition video board at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas followed by Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

Other renovations in that year included the addition of a 1,080 foot (329 meter) long LED display to the stadium's upper deck, primarily for advertising purposes.

Turner Field's left field vista is dominated by advertising fixtures from two iconic Atlanta corporations. In 2009, a new large Coca-Cola bottle was installed behind left field. Replacing an earlier version made of various pieces of baseball equipment, the new bottle features a HD display around the label, as well as LED lighting. Next to this second iteration of Turner Field's Coca-Cola bottle is a 40-foot (12 m) Chick-fil-A cow, added in 2008. Wearing a Braves hat, the cow does the tomahawk chop along with fans while holding a sign with rotating slogans which tie in to the fast-food chain's successful "Eat Mor Chikin" advertising campaign.

Major League Baseball stadium records

The highest recorded attendance for a Braves regular season game in Atlanta is 54,296 and was set at Turner Field on October 2, 2010, against the Philadelphia Phillies. The highest recorded attendance for a Braves playoff game (and overall) in Atlanta is 54,357 and was set at Turner Field on October 5, 2003, against the Chicago Cubs. Both games included standing room tickets.

The longest game by time in Turner Field, and in Braves history, was played on July 26-27, 2011 between the Braves and the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Game lasted 6 hours and 39 minutes with the Braves winning 4-3 in 19 innings. The Braves' previous longest game by time was 6:10 against the Mets on July 4, 1985, at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium

Features

Coca Cola Sky Field

Along the Left Field Corner of the Upper deck is the Coca-Cola Skyfield. Named after one the largest businesses in the Atlanta Area, the sky field is a large standing room area from which fans can view the game. The area contains a base path which kids can run during the games. Also in this area is a large Coca-Cola Bottle. The original bottle was outfitted with baseball equipment. A new more modern bottle replaced the original during the 2009 season.

Braves Museum and Hall of Fame

The Ivan Allen Jr. Braves Museum and Hall of Fame (BMHF) is located on the northwest side at Aisle 134. Admission to the hall of fame can be purchased at the Braves ticket window.

External links

• Stadium site on braves.com
• Interactive diagram at Clem's Baseball site showing both Olympic and Braves configurations
• 3D model plug-in for Google Earth
• Turner Field Photos

Events and tenants
Preceded by Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium	Home of the Atlanta Braves 1997 – present	Succeeded by Current
Preceded by Fenway Park	Host of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game 2000	Succeeded by Safeco Field
Preceded by Great American Ball Park	Host of the Civil Rights Game 2011-2012	Succeeded by TBD