The Hangar (Lancaster, California)

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Lancaster Municipal Stadium
The Hangar
The Hangar.PNG
Clear channel stadium-070125-01.jpg
The Hangar (Lancaster, California)
Former namesLancaster Municipal Stadium (1996–2004)
Clear Channel Stadium (2005–2012)
Location45116 Valley Central Way
Lancaster, CA 93536
Coordinates 34°42′10″N118°10′23″W / 34.70278°N 118.17306°W / 34.70278; -118.17306
Owner City of Lancaster
Capacity 5,300
Construction
Broke groundSeptember 6, 1995 [1]
OpenedApril 16, 1996
Renovated2024-2025
Construction cost$14.5 million
($28.2 million in 2023 dollars [2] )
ArchitectPopulous
General contractorPinner Construction Company [3]
Tenants

The Hangar, officially known as Lancaster Municipal Stadium and formerly known as Clear Channel Stadium, is a stadium in Lancaster, California, United States. From its opening in 1996 to 2020, the stadium was the home field of the Lancaster JetHawks, a now-defunct minor league baseball team of the Advanced A California League. In 2005, Clear Channel Communications entered into a 10-year, $770,000 naming rights deal with the JetHawks and the City of Lancaster, who divided the revenue between them. The deal was planned to run through the 2014 season, but Clear Channel Stadium signage was removed in 2012. The stadium was then renamed The Hangar, its nickname since the stadium opened in 1996, as well as Lancaster Municipal Stadium. The Hangar is located near State Route 14 west of downtown Lancaster. The Lancaster Sound Breakers of the Pecos League played their 2023 season at the Hangar. [4] Lancaster Municipal Stadium is planned to be reconfigured into a soccer-specific stadium for USL League One's AV Alta FC from 2025 onward. [5]

Contents

Features

Because of the area's aerospace legacy, the stadium has a NASA F/A-18 Hornet mounted on display at the front entrance. The $14.5 million facility offers luxury skyboxes, a video message board, and an old-fashioned manual scoreboard. [6] The stadium's seating capacity is listed at 6,860, but can accommodate over 7,000 fans and features slightly over 4,500 permanent full chair stadium seats. [7] Two grass berm general admission areas are available when all seats are sold out. [6]

The stadium is also used to accommodate special events such as local high school graduations, charity softball games, concerts, and the Field of Drafts (an annual brew festival by the City of Lancaster since 2013). Before the Lancaster JetHawks started each new season in April, they played an exhibition game against the local Antelope Valley College Marauders baseball team. However, for the last three JetHawks seasons, they played their exhibition games against the local University of Antelope Valley Pioneers baseball team.

Pilots Pavilion

On April 2, 2014, the Lancaster JetHawks introduced the largest addition to The Hangar since 2005: the Pilots Pavilion. The new tent structure on the third baseline just beyond the stands replaced the stadium's old barbecue tent. At 3,000 square feet and 25 feet tall, the Pilots Pavilion was nearly twice the size and nearly double the height of its predecessor. It was the largest structure of its kind in the California League before the 2019 season. After the JetHawks left the California League in 2020, the Pilots Pavilion was deconstructed and taken down.

The roof canvas material weighed over 1,500 pounds and was supported by six trusses made up of over 6,000 pounds of steel. Just' In Construction, Inc. led the construction efforts. [8]

Conversion to a Soccer-specific Stadium

In 2024, the Lancaster City Council approved expenditure of over $17 million to convert the Lancaster Municipal Stadium into a 5,300-seat soccer-specific stadium. [9]

The renovations will include the addition of a 1,000-seat modular grandstand on the east side, and a 500-seat safe-standing supporters' section with a canopy, which will be occupied by supporters groups such as "The 611". Other major renovations will be done to the field dimensions, existing seating, and stadium infrastructure such as LED lighting and a 16-foot wind wall. The west and south grandstands from the existing baseball configuration will be rebuilt to align with the soccer field and improve sight lines for the rest of the existing seating. [10] [11]

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References

  1. ↑ "Ballpark Matters On Deck". Los Angeles Daily News . September 4, 1995. Retrieved November 6, 2011.
  2. ↑ 1634–1699: 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: 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: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–" . Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  3. ↑ "Design-Bid-Build". Pinner Construction Company. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  4. ↑ "The Lancaster Sound Breakers are one and done in the Hangar". Pecos League. September 1, 2023. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
  5. ↑ Baxter, Kevin (May 16, 2024). "New USL League One team in Antelope Valley builds on buzz with crest, name reveal party" . The Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on May 16, 2024. Retrieved May 16, 2024. USL Antelope Valley will play its home games at Lancaster Municipal Stadium, a 5,300-seat baseball park Smelzer and the city of Lancaster are spending $11 million to renovate for soccer.
  6. 1 2 "Lancaster Municipal Stadium". City of Lancaster. Archived from the original on 2014-05-27. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  7. ↑ "2017 Minor League Baseball Attendance". Baseball Pilgrimages. Retrieved 2024-09-30.
  8. ↑ Schwartz, Jason (April 2, 2014). "JetHawks Introduce Pilots Pavilion at Hangar". Minor League Baseball. Retrieved 2024-09-30.
  9. ↑ Writer, JULIE DRAKE Valley Press Staff (2024-08-14). "Stadium renovation set". Antelope Valley Press. Retrieved 2025-01-12.
  10. ↑ "Stadium". AV ALTA FC. Retrieved 2025-01-12.
  11. ↑ "The City of Lancaster and AV ALTA FC Officially Break Ground at Lancaster Municipal Stadium as it Undergoes Construction to Make it the Fourth Soccer-Specific Stadium in Southern California". AV ALTA FC. Retrieved 2025-01-12.
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