Petco Park, San Diego Photo by Tim Hursley

"Play ball!" was heard for the first time on April 8 at Petco Park, the beautiful new home of the San Diego Padres in the city's re-emerging East Village. The 46,000-seat stadium is reminiscent of the great old ballparks, but it truly is a state-of-art venue with distinctive seating "neighborhoods" throughout. Seating sections are close to the playing field and are angled toward the pitcher's mound to ensure quality views from every seat. And fans can choose to watch a game for a reduced price in the standing-room areas or from the elevated grass park located directly behind the outfield wall.

Petco Park is located downtown, adjacent to the San Diego Convention Center, and is part of the larger Ballpark District, which includes offices, retail, hotels and residential units. The left-field foul pole is represented by the edge of the 95-year-old Western Metal Supply Co. building in the park's southeast corner. After a thorough renovation, the venerable red-brick building now houses the Padres Team Store on the first floor and provides views of left field. The second and third floors provide suites for group parties; the fourth floor features a restaurant with patio dining and great views of the field below. And on the roof, bleachers and standing space yield an uncommon perspective of the diamond 80-ft. below.

Not everything about the project, however, was as simple as three-strikes-and-you're-out. The long road home began when voters approved the city's share of the new $456.8 million ballpark in November 1998. Then, in October 2000, construction stopped because of a lack of money because the city had not sold bonds approved in the election while it defended itself against lawsuits brought by tax protesters. The delays pushed the stadium's opening from 2002 to 2004.

The financing was split between the municipal bonds ($225 million): project-generated redevelopment funds ($57.8 million) and the San Diego Unified Port District ($21 million). The Padres are responsible for private-sector contributions ($153 million).

The Development Team

Owners: San Diego Padres Baseball Club; City of San Diego
Development manager: Hines Interests LP
Sport facilities/executive architect: HOK Sports Facilities Group
Design Architect: Antoine Predock Architects
Landscape architect: Andrew Spurlock Martin Poirier
General contractor: San Diego Ballpark
Builders: Clark Construction Group California LP; Nielsen Dillingham Builders Roel Construction); and Douglas E. Barnhart Inc.
Engineers: MEP Engineer (mechanical, electrical engineers)
Thornton-Tomasetti (structural engineer)
Key subcontractors: American Bridge (structural steel)
Coreslab Structures (pre-cast concrete risers, stairs, walls and slabs)
Marina Landscape

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