Robert & Mariam Hayes Stadium
| The Hayes | |
 |
|
| Former names | Tom and Lib Phillips Field (1988-2006) |
|---|---|
| Location | University of North Carolina at Charlotte |
| Owner | UNC Charlotte |
| Capacity | 1,100 (seated) 3,000 (standing room) |
| Field size |
Left field: 335 ft Left Center Field: 370 ft Center Field: 390 ft Right Center Field: 370 ft Left field: 335 ft |
| Surface | Natural Grass |
| Construction | |
| Opened | February 25, 1984 (initial) March 30, 2007 (reopened) |
| Construction cost |
$5.9 million ($7.01 million in 2016 dollars) |
| Architect | Overcash Demmitt Architects |
| General contractor | RT Dooley Construction Company |
| Tenants | |
| Charlotte 49ers baseball (NCAA D1 C-USA) (1984-2002; 2004-present) | |
Robert and Mariam Hayes Stadium at Tom and Lib Phillips Field is a baseball venue on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. The playing surface has been the home of the Charlotte 49ers baseball team since 1984, and the new stadium surrounding the field was opened in 2007.
The Charlotte baseball team played its first season in 1979 at Crockett Park, the home of the Double-A Charlotte O's. In 1984, a field was built on Charlotte's campus. After businessman Tom Phillips paid to have lights added to the field in 1988, the facility was rechristened Tom and Lib Phillips Field.
The playing surface was redone during the 2003 season; in the meantime, the 49ers played at Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium, fifteen miles away in Kannapolis.
In 2010, the 49ers averaged nearly 1,000 fans per game as 33,966 attended games at Robert and Mariam Hayes Stadium. Through the first 8 home games in 2011, 8,166 attended games for a 1,020 average.
As of March 3, 2011, the 49ers have a 96-25 record at the stadium.
In the summer of 2006 it was announced that Phillips Field would undergo a $5.9 million overhaul with the goal of making UNC Charlotte's baseball facilities top-notch. The project was funded by the late Mariam Cannon Hayes, a local philanthropist who had contributed money to numerous educational programs and facilities throughout North Carolina such as the Barnhardt Student Activity Center at UNC Charlotte and the school of music at Appalachian State University.
The renovation affected all aspects of the baseball facility at UNC Charlotte with the exception of the playing surface. Concession stands and restrooms, previously available only across the street from the field, are available inside the stadium. Whereas Phillips Field had one set of metal bleachers and a small metal pressbox, Hayes Stadium features a lower level of chairback seats and an upper level of bleachers. The pressbox consists of radio and television booths and offices for the baseball staff. On May 11, 2007, the hospitality suite that is part of the new facility was named in honor of Erik Walker, a former pitcher with the 49ers and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays organization who was killed in a canoeing accident in October 2006.
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