Principal Park
 |
|
 .jpg)
|
|
| Former names | Sec Taylor Stadium (1992–2004) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1 Line Drive, Des Moines, IA, 50309 United States |
| Coordinates | 41°34′49″N 93°36′57″W / 41.58028°N 93.61583°WCoordinates: 41°34′49″N 93°36′57″W / 41.58028°N 93.61583°W |
| Owner | City of Des Moines |
| Operator | Raccoon Baseball, Inc. |
| Capacity | 11,500 (2004–present) 10,800 (1992–2003) |
| Field size |
Left field – 335 ft Center field – 400 ft Right field – 335 ft |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | September 10, 1991 |
| Opened | April 16, 1992 |
| Renovated | 2006 |
| Construction cost | US$12 million ($20.5 million in 2017 dollars) |
| Architect | Populous |
| Structural engineer | Shuck–Britson, Inc. |
| Services engineer | Bredson & Associates, Inc. |
| General contractor | Ringland Johnson Crowley Company |
| Tenants | |
| Iowa Cubs (PCL) (1992–present) | |
Principal Park, formerly Sec Taylor Stadium, is a minor league baseball stadium in Des Moines, Iowa. It is the home field of the Pacific Coast League's Iowa Cubs.
Principal Park is at the confluence of the Des Moines River and the Raccoon River in downtown Des Moines. The stadium seats 11,500 fans, with 4,088 club seats and has 45 luxury suites, 12 of which are in a building in left field that also houses the Cub Club restaurant. The Iowa State Capitol building is visible from beyond the center field fence, while some seats also provide views of the Des Moines skyline.
The first ballpark at this site was Pioneer Memorial Stadium in 1947. It was renamed Sec Taylor Stadium in honor of longtime Des Moines Register sports editor Garner "Sec" Taylor on September 2, 1959. The park served as home of the Des Moines Bruins of the Class A Western League (1947–1958) and the Des Moines Demons of the Class B Three–I League (1959–1961). It became the home of the Iowa Cubs (originally the Iowa Oaks of the American Association) in 1969.
By the late 1980s the original stadium was becoming run down, and was starting to develop a seedy reputation as the wooden seats and bleachers were splintering and unpainted. After Des Moines voters approved a bond issue to rebuild Sec Taylor Stadium in August 1990, most of the original stadium was demolished after the 1991 season. The present facility, complete with sky boxes, plastic seats, metal bleachers and a family picnic area, was dedicated on April 16, 1992. During part of the 1993 season the stadium was submerged by the Great Flood of 1993, but the team still went on to win the American Association championship. The Triple-A All-Star Game was held here in 1997. In 2004, Chicago Cubs pitchers Mark Prior and Kerry Wood—both former I-Cubs players—pitched rehabilitation starts in Des Moines and attracted sellout crowds in the process. Wood made two additional rehab starts at Principal Park on June 14, 2005 and one start on May 12, 2006.
...
Wikipedia