Harbor Yard | |
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Ballpark exterior on opening day of the Bluefish's 2012 season | |
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Location | 500 Main Street Bridgeport, Connecticut 06604 |
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Coordinates | 41°10′19″N73°11′15″W / 41.17194°N 73.18750°W |
Public transit | ![]() |
Owner | City of Bridgeport |
Operator | Bridgeport Bluefish |
Capacity | 5,500 |
Field size | Left field: 325 feet (99 m) Center field: 405 feet (123 m) Right field: 325 feet (99 m) |
Surface | grass |
Construction | |
Opened | May 21, 1998 |
Closed | September 17, 2017 |
Construction cost | $19 million |
Tenants | |
Bridgeport Bluefish (ALPB) 1998–2017 Bridgeport Barrage (MLL) 2001–2003 Sacred Heart Pioneers (NCAA) 2001–2017 [1] Bridgeport Purple Knights (NCAA) 1998–2017 [2] | |
Website | |
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The Ballpark at Harbor Yard was a 5,500-seat independent-league ballpark in downtown Bridgeport, Connecticut that opened on May 21, 1998. The stadium was located next to the Webster Bank Arena, now known as the Total Mortgage Arena. It was named "Harbor Yard" as an allusion to Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Maryland.
Located on Bridgeport's Long Island Sound waterfront, Harbor Yard was encircled by Interstate 95 and the Northeast Corridor rail line. The site had navigable ingress and egress routes to northern Fairfield County and the Naugatuck River Valley via the 8/25 connector. The city chose not to renew its lease to the Bluefish and closed the stadium after the 2017 baseball season. The venue has been converted to an outdoor concert amphitheater known as Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater.
The Ballpark at Harbor Yard opened on May 21, 1998, on the site of the former Jenkins Valve factory. The demolition of the Pequonnock apartment buildings in 2002 improved the parking situation for fans attending games at the Ballpark. The Ballpark and Total Mortgage Arena are credited for revitalizing the city into a prosperous waterfront attraction and destination. [3]
The Ballpark at Harbor Yard was constructed in between 1997 and 1998, and its $19 million price tag was funded through public and team contributions. It had a seating capacity of 5,500. Believing that Harbor Yard would be one of the important pieces of Bridgeport's renewal, team co-founder, Jack McGregor, chose its name as an allusion to Baltimore's renewal of the Camden Yards neighborhood. [3]
Harbor Yard was the home field of the Bridgeport Barrage of Major League Lacrosse from 2001 to 2003. [4] The Barrage relocated to Philadelphia after the 2003 season. [5]
On October 1, 2009, the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball granted the ballpark the 2009 Atlantic League Park of the Year award. [6]
On August 8, 2017, Mayor Joe Ganim announced that city would not renew the Bluefish's lease, ending their 20-year stint at the ballpark at the end of the 2017 season. [7] The Bluefish played their final home game at the park on September 17, 2017, losing by a score of 9–2 to the Somerset Patriots. [8]
The former minor-league ballpark was converted to a concert amphitheater known as Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater. [7] [9] A groundbreaking ceremony for the replacement amphitheater was held in July 2018. [10] The amphitheater opened July 28, 2021. [11]
The Ballpark at Harbor Yard hosted four All-Star games in its history: the first MLL All-Star Game in 2001, and the 1999, 2006 and 2015 Atlantic League All Star games. [12]
The park had concessions with traditional ballpark fare served at two restaurants: the People's Bank Marina, an all-you-can-eat buffet; and the Harbor Club, a restaurant that served an upscale ballpark menu.
Children at the ballpark could play on the playground equipment at the United Way Kids' Cove. There was also a party suite was for birthday parties and other special occasions.
The Bluefish added the Two Roads Beer Garden for the 2015 season, sponsored by the Two Roads Brewery from Stratford. [13]
The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league based in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States. The Atlantic League's corporate headquarters is located at Clipper Magazine Stadium in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
The Bridgeport Bluefish were an American minor league baseball team based in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The team was a member of the Liberty Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, which was not affiliated with Major League Baseball. They played their home games at The Ballpark at Harbor Yard from 1998 to 2017.
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The Philadelphia Barrage were a professional field lacrosse team that are based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and member of Major League Lacrosse. They were the Bridgeport Barrage from 2001 to 2003 at The Ballpark at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The team then relocated to Philadelphia from the 2004 season to the 2007 season when they became a traveling team for 2008. They ceased operations before the 2009 season due to the economic situation in the United States. The Philadelphia Barrage were resurrected for the 2020 season.
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The 2001 Major League Lacrosse season was the inaugural season of the new semi-professional men's field lacrosse league. The league began play with six founding teams: Baltimore Bayhawks, Boston Cannons, Bridgeport Barrage, Long Island Lizards, New Jersey Pride and Rochester Rattlers. Each team played a 14-game regular season schedule that ended with a championship game on September 3, 2001.
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Patrick Howard Ahearne is an American former professional baseball pitcher.
Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonnock River on Long Island Sound, it is a port city 60 miles (97 km) from Manhattan and 40 miles (64 km) from The Bronx. It borders the towns of Trumbull to the north, Fairfield to the west, and Stratford to the east. Bridgeport and other towns in Fairfield County make up the Greater Bridgeport Planning Region, as well as the Bridgeport–Stamford–Norwalk–Danbury metropolitan statistical area, the second largest metropolitan area in Connecticut. The Bridgeport–Stamford–Norwalk–Danbury metropolis forms part of the New York metropolitan area.
Professional ice hockey in Connecticut has a rich tradition dating from the mid-1920s. Most of these teams were NHL minor league affiliates located in New Haven, though with the closure of the New Haven Coliseum, minor league affiliates now exist only exist in Hartford and Bridgeport. Hartford had its own Major league team, the Whalers team that existed in Hartford from 1974-97. Independent hockey leagues teams have also been gaining a foothold in Danbury starting in 2004.
Bridgeport Harbor is an inlet on the north side of Long Island Sound in Bridgeport, Connecticut. It was carved by the retreat of the glaciers during the last ice age approximately 13,000 years ago.
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Dunkin' Park is a 6,121-seat baseball park in Hartford, Connecticut. It is the home field of the Hartford Yard Goats of the Eastern League. The stadium has a total capacity of 6,850 people, including standing room, which was reached numerous times during its inaugural season of 2017. It was planned to open for the 2016 season on April 7, but numerous constructions delays postponed this opening and forced the Yard Goats to play the entire season on the road. The stadium opened in time for the team's 2017 home opener on April 13.
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...the Ballpark at Harbor Yard, home to the Bridgeport Bluefish for 20 seasons. The Purple Knights played at Harbor Yard for all of those years, too.
It was also home to a professional lacrosse team, the Bridgeport Barrage, 2001-03.
The Bridgeport Barrage played the league's first three seasons mostly at the Ballpark at Harbor Yard before moving to Philadelphia.