Space Coast Stadium

Space Coast Stadium

Space Coast Stadium on March 1, 2009.
Space Coast Stadium Space Coast Stadium′s location in Florida
Location	5800 Stadium Parkway Viera, FL 32940
Coordinates	28°15′25″N 80°44′22″W / 28.25694°N 80.73944°W / 28.25694; -80.73944Coordinates: 28°15′25″N 80°44′22″W / 28.25694°N 80.73944°W / 28.25694; -80.73944
Owner	Brevard County, Florida
Operator	Brevard County, Florida
Capacity	8,100
Field size	Left Field: 340 ft (104 m) Center Field: 404 ft (123 m) Right Field: 340 ft (104 m)
Surface	Grass
Construction
Broke ground	April 29, 1993
Opened	March 2, 1994
Construction cost	US$6.2 million ($10 million in 2017 dollars)
Architect	DLR Group
General contractor	Miorelli Construction, Inc.
Tenants
Brevard County Manatees (FSL) (1994–2016) Florida Marlins (MLB) (spring training) (1994–2002) Montreal Expos (MLB) (spring training) (2003–2004) Washington Nationals (MLB) (spring training) (2005–2016) GCL Nationals (GCL) (2005–2016)

Space Coast Stadium is a baseball stadium in Viera, Florida. It has served as the spring training facility for the Florida Marlins (1994–2002), Montreal Expos (2003–2004), and Washington Nationals (2005–2016) and as the home field of the Brevard County Manatees (1994–2016). After renovation, it is scheduled to reopen as a baseball/softball venue – part of a new multisport complex – in 2017.

Space Coast Stadium was completed before the 1994 Major League Baseball season as part of a plan to bring the Florida Marlins to Viera for spring training. Ground was broken for the new stadium in what had been a pasture on April 29, 1993, and construction cost US$6.2 million.

Opening ceremonies took place on March 2, 1994 – the same day as a launch of the Space Shuttle Columbia at the nearby Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral – followed immediately by the Marlins′ first spring training game at the ballpark, in which they defeated the Kansas City Royals 9-6 before a crowd of 7,494.

The Florida Marlins held spring training at Space Coast Stadium through the 2002 season. In 2002, as part of an agreement in which Jeffrey Loria sold the Montreal Expos to Major League Baseball and purchased the Marlins, the Marlins swapped training sites with the Expos, who had been training in Jupiter, Florida. The Expos held two seasons of training at Space Coast Stadium in 2003 and 2004. The Expos franchise then moved from Montreal to Washington, D.C., to become the Washington Nationals. The Nationals conducted spring training at Space Coast Stadium from their inaugural season in 2005 through 2016. They played from seven to fifteen games per season in the stadium. Game attendance averaged from 4,690 in 2010 to 3,433 in 2011. The Nationals contracted to make annual $765,000 stadium-construction bond payments through March 2013.