Canal Park (Akron, Ohio)

Canal Park

Location	300 South Main Street Akron, Ohio 44308
Coordinates	41°04′41″N81°31′20″W / 41.077924°N 81.522202°W / 41.077924; -81.522202
Owner	City of Akron
Operator	Akron Professional Baseball Inc.
Capacity	7,630 [1]
Field size	Left Field: 331 feet (101 m) Left Center: 376 feet (115 m) Center Field: 400 feet (120 m) Right Center: 375 feet (114 m) Right Field: 337 feet (103 m)
Surface	Kentucky Bluegrass
Construction
Broke ground	January 5, 1996
Opened	1997
Construction cost	US$32 million ($62.7 million in 2024 dollars [2] )
Architect	Populous
Project manager	H. R. Gray [3]
Structural engineer	DLZ, Inc. [4]
Services engineer	Bredson & Associates, Inc. [5]
General contractor	Summit Construction Co., Inc.
Tenants
Akron RubberDucks (EL) 1997–present

Former scoreboard display at Canal Park before installation of the new HD videoboard in 2013

Canal Park is a baseball stadium located in Akron, Ohio, United States, that is the home of the Akron RubberDucks of the Eastern League. The team is a double-A minor-league affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. Opened in 1997, the stadium was designed by Populous, then known as HOK Sport, the same architectural firm that designed the Guardians' Progressive Field, which opened three years earlier. The stadium takes its name from its location adjacent to the Ohio and Erie Canal, which runs behind the left-field wall.

Features

The stadium is designed as a single deck with the concourse at the top. Seats extend all the way from one foul pole to the other (farther than most other parks at this level), and most sections contain 20-25 rows, although they taper to as little as five in the corners.

A series of 25 luxury boxes, and the press box, covers the concourse and the top few rows of seats from first base around to third base. The walkway down the right-field line is also covered, and contains a restaurant and the RubberDucks' team shop. A picnic berm in left field is available for rental by groups of 24 or more. ^[6]

During the 2006 Akron Aeros season, the team celebrated its 10th season in Canal Park with several events.

Aside from Akron RubberDucks baseball, Canal Park occasionally hosts special events such as local high school and college baseball and the Akron Marathon. On May 19, 2015, the RubberDucks officially announced that Canal Park will host the 2016 Eastern League All-Star Game and its associated events. ^[7]

Scoreboard

In August 2006, the park completed the installation of a new 18'x25' digital scoreboard to replace the original board with light bulbs. The new board has full color animation capacity and features a four color matrix display. The $386,000 project was originally expected to be completed in early July. ^[8] The entire scoreboard measures 56¼'x68' and is the largest free-standing scoreboard in minor league baseball.

In January 2013, The Aeros' new management announced plans to install a new scoreboard which will be 26 ft high and 68 ft wide and would cost $1.65 million. The scoreboard was completed in time for the start of the 2013 season, as well as a new smaller outfield display board near the picnic tables. ^[9]

RubberDucks baseball

Attendance

On July 24, 2015, the RubberDucks reported their largest attendance ever of 8,301. ^[10]

Season	Total attendance	League rank	Total Aeros/RubberDucks openings	Average attendance per Aeros/RubberDucks opening	Average attendance per Eastern League opening (not including Aeros/RubberDucks openings)
1997	473,232	1st	71 (approx.)	6,665	4,260
1998	521,122	1st	71 (approx.)	7,340	4,334
1999	522,459	1st	71 (approx.)	7,359	4,954
2000	481,060	1st	71 (approx.)	6,775	4,147
2001	485,582	1st	71 (approx.)	6,839	4,294
2002	400,187	3rd	71 (approx.)	5,636	4,284
2003	445,603	2nd	71 (approx.)	6,276	4,128
2004	478,611	1st	71 (approx.)	6,741	4,399
2005	455,056	2nd	71 (approx.)	6,409	4,468
2006	412,995	3rd	71 (approx.)	5,817	4,353
2007	355,376	6th	64	5,553	4,831
2008	342,816	7th	67	5,117	4,570

References

1. "Akron RubberDucks Canal Park". Minor League Baseball . Retrieved 4 May 2015.
2. 1634–1699: '"`UNIQ--templatestyles-00000002-QINU`"' McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: '"`UNIQ--templatestyles-00000003-QINU`"' McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: '"`UNIQ--templatestyles-00000004-QINU`"'Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–" . Retrieved February 29, 2024.
3. "Canal Park Baseball Stadium". H. R. Gray. Archived from the original on August 5, 2009. Retrieved September 24, 2011.
4. "DLZ Architecture" (PDF). Summit County Parks Architectural Services. Retrieved September 24, 2011.^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
5. "Pro Baseball Sports Facilities". Bredson & Associates, Inc. Archived from the original on April 10, 2002. Retrieved August 8, 2013.
6. "Picnics". Akron Aeros. January 19, 2013. Archived from the original on February 23, 2013. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
7. "RubberDucks to Host 2016 Eastern League All-Star Game".
8. Storm, Stephanie (April 7, 2006). "Canal Park to Get New Scoreboard". Akron Beacon Journal . Archived from the original on June 11, 2014. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
9. "New Restaurant Coming to Canal Park". Minor League Baseball. October 25, 2013. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
10. Davies, Spencer (July 24, 2015). "RubberDucks report: Ohio State Night becoming a tradition like O-H-I-O at Canal Park". Akron Beacon Journal . Retrieved July 25, 2015.

External links

• Akron RubberDucks
• Ball Parks of the Minor Leagues Archived 2009-05-24 at the Wayback Machine