First Retractable Roof Baseball Stadium

Chase field built 1998.

First retractable roof baseball stadium.

Constructed in 1961 for the pittsburgh civic light opera the arena was home to minor league and ncaa d 1 basketball and ice hockey teams before becoming the home of the nhl s pittsburgh penguins in 1967 as well as hosting over a dozen regular season nba games in the 1960s and 1970s. The seats that my brother and i had were deep in left field and under the overhang. Since building the first retractable roof ballpark the skydome in 1989 designers have crafted several kinds of retractable roofs. The first retractable roof sports venue was the now demolished civic arena in pittsburgh pennsylvania united states.

The first retractable roof stadium built was the civic center in pittsburgh pennsylvania currently there are six retractable roof ballparks in major league baseball. Construction of the skydome later renamed the rogers center in canada helped to usher in a new more modern era of stadium design. It is the first retractable roof ballparks built specifically for baseball but in reality it s a multi purpose stadium. It was the first stadium with a fully retractable roof creating the best of both weather worlds for the cfl s argonauts.

My first indoor baseball game was at miller park out in milwaukee in 2012. Some for instance open only over a small central section. In june 1989 toronto unveiled the skydome to much pomp and circumstance. Extensive conceptual work went into the site and stadium.

It was the first facility with a retractable roof and other contemporary features include a hotel inside the ballpark with rooms available overlooking the field. Immediately following pohlad s 1994 declaration of intent the twins began making plans to build a new retractable roof stadium on a site just north of the metrodome. The rogers centre is located in beautiful downtown toronto ontario canada. While the skydome was among the first baseball stadiums with a retractable roof finished in 1989 montreal s olympic stadium home of the expos was the first.

The roof at minute maid park however retracts completely off the ballpark to reveal the largest open area of any retractable roofed baseball stadium in existence today. My first indoor mlb stadium experience. Miller park is a retractable roof stadium so games can happen under a dome or be open to the sky. Actually the first retractable roof stadium was mellon arena which opened as the pittsburgh civic arena in 1961 and is informally known as the igloo.