The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville
Posted by: 
The SuzyQs
N 30° 19.474 W 081° 38.635
17R E 438097 N 3354926
The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville is home to the Jacksonville Suns. The Jacksonville Suns are the AA Southern League affiliates to the Los Angeles Dodgers. We attend games here regularly, as the company I work for owns one of the 12 luxury boxes.
Waymark Code: WMBE
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 08/20/2005
Views: 60
The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville, which opened in 2003, is one of the premier minor league ballparks in North America.
The ballpark was the first completed project of the Better Jacksonville Plan. Featuring an old-fashioned design, brick facade and a grass seating berm, the Baseball Grounds reminds fans of the days of yesteryear and preserves all of the wonderful tradition baseball has to offer. The vivid sightlines capture the action up-close while providing fans with comfortable seating and easy access to concessions and restrooms.
The Baseball Grounds also features 12 luxury skyboxes, four skydecks, a large scoreboard and videoboard, a playground, and the "knuckle," a unique nine-foot high mound for seating at the left field corner.
Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville Fast Facts
# Built: 2003
# Capacity: 11,000
# Playing Surface: Grass
# Dimensions:
* Left Field - 321'
* Center Field - 420'
* Right Field - 317'
# 2004 attendance: 420,495 (Suns single-season attendance record, second-highest in Southern League history; an average of more than 6,200 per game.)
# Has nearly 6,000 stadium-style chairs and can accommodate more than 11,000 fans with berm and bleacher seating.
# Has 12 luxury skyboxes and four sky decks, each of which having private seating.
# Total estimated cost is $34 million, paid for by Jacksonville residents as part of a tax approved in 2000 to fund the “Better Jacksonville Plan,” an initiative to improve the city’s infrastructure. The adjacent Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena was also funded through the plan and was completed in November 2003.
# Boasts the longest distance between home plate and center field in the Southern League -- 420 feet.
# Claims to have the largest roof constructed on an open-air facility in the minor leagues.
# Is completely wheelchair accessible, including the dugouts, camera wells and playing field.
# Features a souvenir shop, first aid facility, various seating levels and perspectives, an ample number of restrooms and concession areas, wide concourse and seating aisles and a state-of-the-art video scoreboard in left center field.