Wikipedia

Al Lang Stadium

Al Lang Stadium[4]is a 7,500-seat sportsstadiumalong the waterfront of downtownSt. Petersburg, Florida,United States which was used almost exclusively as abaseball parkfor over 60 years. Since 2011, it has been the home pitch of theTampa Bay Rowdiesof theUSL Championshipsoccer league.

Al Lang Stadium
Al Lang Stadium in 2015
Al Lang Stadium is located in Florida
Al Lang Stadium
Al Lang Stadium
Location in Florida
Al Lang Stadium is located in the United States
Al Lang Stadium
Al Lang Stadium
Location in the United States
Former names
  • Florida Power Park (1998–2002)
  • Progress Energy Park (2003–2011)
Location180 2nd Avenue SE
St. Petersburg, Florida
Coordinates27°46′05″N82°37′59″W/ 27.7681°N 82.6331°W/27.7681; -82.6331
OwnerCity of St. Petersburg
OperatorBig 3 Entertainment
Capacity7,227[1]
Field size110 x 75yd
SurfaceGrass
Construction
Opened1947
Renovated1976, 1996, 2015
Construction cost$300,000[2](original)
Tenants

Al Lang Stadium was built in 1947 at the site of an older facility known as St. Petersburg Athletic Park. It is named in honor ofAl Lang,a former mayor of St. Petersburg who was instrumental in bringing minor league and spring training baseball to the city in the early 20th century.[5]Al Lang Stadium was thespring traininghome of theSt. Louis CardinalsofMajor League Baseballfrom 1948 until 1997, with other teams occasionally sharing use of the facility for a few seasons at a time. During the summer, the ballpark was the home field for the Cardinal'sminor leaguefranchise in theFlorida State League.The Cardinals moved out in 1998, when St. Petersburg gained their own MLB team and theTampa Bay Devil Raysused Al Lang Stadium as their firstspring trainingvenue and minor league ballpark. The Rays constructed a new training facility inCharlotte Countya few years later, and Al Lang Stadium hosted its last spring training game in March 2008.

The stadium was the site of exhibition and amateur baseball for the next few years until the Tampa Bay Rowdies moved to St. Petersburg from Tampa in 2011. It was incrementally modified into a soccer venue over each of the following off-seasons until October 2014, when the club and the city signed an agreement giving the team more control of the facility, and more extensive renovations were undertaken to expand seating on both sides of the pitch and improve the fan experience. Though former Rowdies' majority ownerBill Edwardsproposed expanding the stadium's capacity to 18,000 seats as part of a bid to move the club intoMajor League Soccer(MLS), the plans were not realized. In 2018, Edwards sold the club to the Tampa Bay Rays ownership group in a deal which also transferred control of Al Lang Stadium.[6][7]

History

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Background

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See also:Baseball in the Tampa Bay Area

Professional baseball grew throughout the United States at the beginning of the twentieth century, and clubs sought additional facilities to accommodate theirspring training.Al Lang,a businessman inSt. Petersburg,saw a huge potential to attract northeastern teams to his city to take advantage of the warm weather during the early months of the year. Lang and city officials created an incentives package that covered teams' travel expenses and other amenities, which drew in the city's first spring training tenant, theSt. Louis Browns,in 1914. The club trained atCoffee Pot Park,a small ballpark located beside Coffee Pot bayou about a mile north of the current site of Al Lang Stadium. Subsequently, otherMajor League Baseballclubs such as thePhiladelphia Philliesand theNew York Yankeescame to St. Petersburg for spring training, and Lang continued promoting the city when he was elected Mayor of St. Petersburg in 1916. After his term, Lang devoted his life to building a successful connection between Florida and baseball, and was instrumental in marketing St. Petersburg as a desirable sports site.[5][8]

With Al Lang's support, the city replaced Coffee Pot Park with St. Petersburg Athletic Park (also known as Waterfront Park) on the present site of Al Lang Stadium in1923.It served as the spring training home for Major League Baseball teams theBoston Bravesand theNew York Yankeesuntil afterWorld War II,hosting baseball greats such asBabe Ruth,Lou Gehrig,Joe DiMaggio,andStan Musial.[9]

The grandstand at Al Lang Stadium

Current stadium

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In 1947, the city of St. Petersburg demolished Waterfront Park and constructed a modern baseball park on the same site. It was named Al Lang Stadium in honor of his many years of service to the city and his continual promotion of baseball in the area. TheSt. Louis CardinalsandNew York Yankeesshared the new ballpark in its first spring training season.

The stadium underwent a major reconstruction in 1976, expanding its capacity to 7,227.[10][better source needed]It was renovated again in 1996; the project cost $640,117 and included disability accommodations.[11][better source needed]When the expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays began using the park for spring training in 1998, local utilityFlorida Powerpurchased the park's naming rights for $150,000 per year, and the city rechristened it Florida Power Park at Al Lang Field.[12]When Florida Power was acquired byProgress Energyin 2003, the stadium's name was changed to Progress Energy Park.[13][14]The naming rights agreement expired in 2011, and the facility's name reverted to Al Lang Stadium.

Description

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Al Lang Stadium's grandstand faces the southeast, giving almost every seat a view of the St. Petersburg harbor andTampa Baybeyond the left field wall. The stadium is constructed primarily ofreinforced concrete,and the public portions of the facility include very few enclosed and air conditioned areas. A unique concretecantileveredoverhang shades many of the grandstand seats from the afternoon sun, and the stadium's waterfront location is often cooled by asea breeze.During the 2015 renovation, the Rowdies replaced all of the seats in the grandstand, refreshed fan areas under the grandstand, and extensively updated many of the club and gameday operation areas.[15]In addition, a portion of the outfield wall was removed and two banks of uncovered bleachers installed in its place, adding several hundred seats on the sideline of the soccer pitch opposite the grandstand.

2024 hurricane impacts

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Due to damage incurred byHurricane HeleneandHurricane Miltonupon the stadium and surrounding area, the Tampa Bay Rowdies were forced to play their final two home games of the2024 USL Championship seasonatIMG Academy's Soccer Complex inBradenton.[16]

Tenants and events

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Baseball at the stadium – last pitch of the final spring game on March 28, 2008

Baseball

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Al Lang Stadium was originally designed and built for baseball, and it has hosted many thousands ofmajor league spring training,minor league,college, high school, international. and exhibition baseball games over the decades.

Professional baseball

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Al Lang Stadium was originally built as a spring training and minor league venue and served that purpose from 1947 until 2008. Spring training tenants included theNew York Yankees,St. Louis Cardinals,New York Giants,New York Mets,andBaltimore Orioles.Minor league tenants included theSt. Petersburg Saintsof theFlorida International Leagueand theSt. Petersburg Cardinalsof theFlorida State League.Al Lang Stadium's final minor league tenant was theClass ASt. Petersburg Devil Rays,who last played at the stadium in2000.[17]

In 1998, the expansionTampa Bay Devil Raysbegan using the stadium for spring training. Their regular season home atTropicana Fieldis approximately one mile west, making the Devil Rays the first major league team to train and play regular season games in the same city in almost 90 years. In 2006, the Rays, seeking to expand their fan base across theTampa Bay area,decided to move their spring training operations toCharlotte Sports ParkinPort Charlotte,about 80 miles south of St. Petersburg.[18]They played their last spring training ballgame at Al Lang Stadium on March 28, 2008.[19]

Amateur baseball

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Baseball in the Tampa Bay areahas a long history, and amateur baseball has long been played in Al Lang Stadium and its predecessors in downtown St. Petersburg. Many different tournament, exhibition, practice, and regular season games have been held there, with theUniversity of South Florida St. Petersburgclub baseball program the last amateur team to call Al Lang Stadium home during their inaugural season of 2014.

The1997and2002ACC Tournamentswere played at the venue,[20]as was the2000 Conference USA baseball tournament.[21]From 2010 to 2014, Al Lang Stadium hosted the St. Petersburg International Baseball Series, which involved international teams, national teams, and local college and high school teams along with minor league squads from various major league organizations that were already in the area for spring training.[22][better source needed]The event moved to other local venues in 2015.

After the Tampa Bay Rowdies moved to Al Lang Stadium in 2011, the playing surface and seating arrangement had to be constantly alternated between baseball and soccer configurations, especially in the spring. The resulting poor condition of the turf led to complaints by Rowdies management and, in October 2014, an agreement that baseball would not be played at the facility.[23]

Soccer

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In 2011, the soccer teamFC Tampa Bayof theNorth American Soccer Leagueannounced it would move to Al Lang Stadium fromGeorge M. Steinbrenner Fieldin Tampa.[24]This ended three years in which the stadium had no long-term tenant. Al Lang Stadium subsequently underwent minor renovations to convert it into a soccer facility, with temporary seats added on the grass along the sidelines to increase capacity.[25][26]The team played its first game at Al Lang on April 9, 2011, and later changed its name to the Tampa Bay Rowdies, after thehistorical teamthat had played from 1975 to 1993.[27][28]

Al Lang Stadium in July 2020.

On October 27, 2012, the Tampa Bay Rowdies became the2012 NASL Championsby winning the two-legSoccer Bowlagainst theMinnesota Starsat Al Lang Stadium. It was the first time that a major championship was held at the site.[29]In 2013, the Rowdies signed a lease extension keeping the team at Al Lang Stadium through the 2016 season.[30]

In 2014, Rowdies majority owner Bill Edwards publicly complained that the city of St. Petersburg and the St. Petersburg Baseball Commission, which managed Al Lang Stadium, had not kept up with maintenance on the grandstand, the locker rooms, or the playing field. This was partially due to the fact that although the Rowdies have been the only regular tenant of Al Lang Stadium since 2011, it was regularly used for exhibition and amateur baseball during the spring, necessitating that the playing surface be converted for soccer use by removing the pitcher's mound and replacing the infield dirt with grass.[23][31][32]The dispute resulted in the Rowdies filing a lawsuit against the St. Petersburg Baseball Commission in July 2014 claiming that the commission was not properly maintaining the "dilapidated" facility.[33]

Transfer of stadium management

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The issues were finally resolved in October 2014 when Edwards and the city of St. Petersburg brokered a deal that gave Edwards' Big 3 Entertainment company management control of Al Lang Stadium for the next four years. As part of the arrangement, the facility would no longer be used for baseball events, and Edwards agreed to complete $1.5 million in renovations as he sought to make Al Lang Stadium more soccer friendly.[34]

Other sports

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Section of the race course at Al Lang Stadium

Part of the circuit for theGrand Prix of St. Petersburgcurves through the parking lot of Al Lang Stadium.

Lacrosse

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On January 29, 2013Major League Lacrosseannounced that the 2012 MLL champions theRochester Rattlerswould face theChesapeake Bayhawksfor their season opener at Al Lang stadium. It would be the first time that the league would play there. Part of this game is an effort to evaluate theTampa Bay Area,and the state ofFloridain general, for an expansion team, after MLL held theAll-Star gameatFIU Stadiumthe previous year. It was supported by the St. Petersburg/Clearwater Sports Commission who want to affirm the city's brand as a world-class destination for sports tourism.[35][36]The game was played on Saturday, April 27, 2013, in front of 3,940 people (a figure higher than half the league's average attendance),[37]with Chesapeake winning, 17–14.[38]The FAU site would eventually become the home of theFlorida Launchin 2014 until their eventual demise before the start of the 2019 season. When the original 2019 schedule was released in November 2018, they were expected to move toCentral Broward Regional ParkinLauderhill,due to the later season dates overlapping with theFlorida Atlantic Owls footballseason.[39]

Rugby

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In 2015, Al Lang Stadium hosted the Halloween Rugby 7s, a rugby sevens tournament featuring eight teams: USA Falcons, USA Hawks, Canada, Argentina, Denver, New York City, Ohio and Utah.[40]

Future

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Proposed Rays ballpark

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In2006,theTampa Bay Raysannounced plans to move their spring training home toPort Charlotte,about 80 minutes south of St. Petersburg, for the 2009 season. In November 2007, Rays President Matt Silverman introduced a plan to build a $450 million newRays Ballparkat the Al Lang Stadium site that was to be ready for the 2012 baseball season. The plan failed to garner enough political support to move forward, and it was shelved in June 2008.[41]Subsequently, the Rays began looking at other potential locations, and in May 2009, they announced that they would not seek to build a new facility in downtown St. Petersburg.[42]

Soccer specific replacement

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In 2013, the city of St. Petersburg began the process of creating a master plan for the waterfront area that includes Al Lang Stadium. Some of the proposals suggest replacing the entire stadium and surrounding parking areas with a soccer park complex with a newsoccer-specific stadium.[43]Rowdies owner Bill Edwards has stated that "in a perfect world", Al Lang Stadium would be replaced by an 18,000-seat publicly financed soccer stadium.[23]

In March 2016, St. Petersburg mayorRick Krisemanannounced plans to hold a publicreferendumon extending the Rowdies' lease at Al Lang Stadium and to use tax dollars to help the club transform the facility into a "city showpiece". However, these plans were shelved in May 2016, possibly because it became known thatOrlando City SC,the closestMajor League Soccer(MLS) franchise, has territorial rights for the Tampa/St. Petersburg market, clouding the prospects for potentially bringing the Rowdies to MLS and delaying the need for a larger venue.[44]

In December 2016, the Tampa Bay Rowdies launched another proposal entitled "#MLS2StPete" to join Major League Soccer as anexpansion team.[45][46]With the announcement, plans were released for an expansion and renovation of Al Lang Stadium to accommodate an 18,000-seat capacity financed by private funding.[47][48]A May 2017 referendum authorized the city of St. Petersburg to negotiate a 25-year lease with the club if MLS picks the Rowdies as an expansion team.[49][50][51]

See also

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  • Rawhide– a 1938 feature film starringLou Gehrig,premiered in St. Petersburg by former Mayor Al Lang
  • Strategic Air Command– Al Lang Field featured prominently as the setting for the first 10 minutes of the 1955 motion picture starringJames StewartandJune Allyson.The facility was the real-life spring training home for the St. Louis Cardinals at the time, and Stewart portrayed Robert "Dutch" Holland, a third baseman for the team who is recalled to active duty with theUnited States Air Forcein the film.

References

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  10. ^Moncada, Carlos (August 28, 2006.S "t. Petersburg Considering Life Without Al Lang Field"The Tampa Tribune.Retrieved May 13, 2014.
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  27. ^Dietrich, Jim."A Kick in the Grass".Stadium Journey.Archived fromthe originalon July 9, 2012.Retrieved2017-01-04.
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  39. ^Launch release schedule, new home venue
  40. ^"Scary Fast, Fit & Furious".halloweenrugby7s.Archived fromthe originalon June 25, 2016.Retrieved2017-01-04.
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  42. ^Gonzalez, Alden (May 22, 2009)."St. Pete waterfront ballpark a no-go".RaysBaseball.Retrieved2017-01-04.[dead link‍]
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  44. ^Frago, Charlie (May 4, 2016)."St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman shelves plans to ask voters for permission to expand Al Lang".Tampa Bay Times.Retrieved2017-01-04.
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  51. ^Charlise, Jeff (May 3, 2017)."St. Petersburg approves stadium plan amid MLS expansion bid".ESPNFC.Retrieved2017-05-05.
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