| The Pirates have gone from
having one of the worst parks to now having one of the best. Of course
anything would have been an improvement over cold and sterile Three
Rivers Stadium. But the Pirates didn't just build an ordinary
new park - they built perhaps the best new park since the frenzy started
in '92 with Camden Yards opening. Built right next to the location
of the former stadium, PNC Park provides a spectacular view of the city
skyline as well as the Roberto Clemente bridge (which is yellow in color).
The exterior of the park is a sandy light brown in color, which is a refreshing
change from all the red brick parks that have been built of late.
It really fits in with the surrounding streets, especially since they have
placed restaurants in it which open up to the street. But it's not
just the great setting that makes this park attractive. It's also
the park's features - seats close to the action, a low upper deck, luxury
boxes that are well hidden, and a nice concourse that overlooks the playing
field. The upper deck is said to one of the lowest in the majors
- this was possible due to the limited number of luxury boxes and the way
they were tucked in between the two decks. Also, the press box was
put at the top of the upper deck, another reason that the upper deck could
be lower. As with all new parks, there are a ton of different concession
items. But also as usual, their prices are on the high side.
The concourse area can get tight here with big crowds, but this was the
only complaint (besides the high prices) I could find of PNC Park.
Hopefully more teams will look at PNC Park as a model of how to build a
new park, especially since the price tag for it was so low (somewhere in
the $200 million range). Now if the Pirates could just field a winning
team, the press might recognize what a great park this is, and give it
some recognition. Until then, it may become the most underrated park
in the country.
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