| Space Coast Stadium, originally built for the expansion Florida Marlins, seems like a perfectly fine spring venue, but the Nationals have been making noise about it being located too far from other spring training cities. Originally decked out in Marlins colors, the park definitely has a Nationals feel to it as the exterior has been painted red, white, and blue and inside the teal seats have all been replaced with blue seats. The exterior of Space Coast Stadium actually offers quite a bit to look at as there is a small pond as well as a replica of a space shuttle (the name of the park comes from the proximity to Cape Canaveral) and a statue of Casey at the Bat. Inside, the ballpark does not offer the most popular amenity that fans crave these days - a concourse in view of the field. Instead, the concourse is located behind the seating bowl. Also, while the park does have a berm in the outfield, it is small and does not offer great views of the field. The main seating bowl consists of mostly of fold down seats, though there are metal bleacher sections in the outfield down each line. While the park is quite intimate, one problem is the lack of shade in the seating. Other than tiny roofs down each line which just cover a few rows of seats, the only other protection from the sun is in the concourse or on the outfield berm. There really isn't much that makes Space Coast Stadium unique, but the foul poles do offer something. They are each named after one of the space shuttle disasters (Columbia and Challenger). The concourse, which has both covered and uncovered parts, offers an excellent array of concessions. Some of the unique options include the "Strasburger" (a BBQ Bacon burger), chicken teriyaki, turkey sandwiches, and buffalo chicken tenders. Prices are on par with most other spring training parks and the quality is quite good. As I prefer when I go to spring training games, the atmosphere here is quite laid back. One other nice feature that deserves mentioning is the bullpens - both are located in areas where fans can easily peer in. This is especially true of the visitor bullpen, which is behind the left field fence. Overall, I enjoyed my visit to Space Coast Stadium. It certainly isn't the best spring training park, but it does offer a relaxing environment. Here's hoping that the Nationals stay here for many more years as I'm not for all the spring training parks being bunched together in Orlando or Tampa. As expected, the Nationals last spring in Viera was 2016 as a new ballpark was built for them in West Palm Beach. The Florida State League team will also be moving in '17 to Kissimmeee. After pro baseball left here, a $32 million renovation was completed in preparation for use by amateur softball and baseball teams.
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