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(October 2006) posted on Sun Oct 15, 2006

The Cardinals' new, tony Busch Stadium melds tradition and progress.

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By Steve Aust

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With the exception of the Bronx Bombers (the New York Yankees to the baseball-impaired), the St. Louis Cardinals own Major League Baseball's most storied legacy. From Dizzy Dean and the scrappy "Gas House Gang" teams of the 1920s and '30s, through the quiet leadership of outfielder Stan "the Man" Musial, to the tape-measure home runs of Albert Pujols, the team's current slugging first baseman, the "Gateway City's" legendary diamond nine has maintained a love affair with its fans en route to its 16 pennants and nine World Series titles.

So, when team management decided to update the Cardinals stadium, it wanted confines (and signage) that honor tradition while respecting that today's spectator-sport audience demands entertainment value.

Team needs

Since 1966, the Cardinals have played in the prior incarnation of Busch Stadium, which had been built as a multi-purpose facility. The National Football League's St. Louis Cardinals played there until migrating to Arizona in 1988, and the current NFL Rams briefly played there before their own arena, the Edward Jones Dome, was finished in 1995.

Built for multiple sports (as well as concerts and other outdoor events), the stadium had sightlines that weren't tailored to baseball, where fan focus can shift instantaneously. The current park seats 43,975 — 10,000 to 15,000 fewer seats than the obsolete multi-use parks, but architecturally and aesthetically favorable for Doubleday's game.

Bill DeWitt Jr., the team's senior vice president for business development, said the plethora of handsome, brick buildings that embellish downtown St. Louis, such as Louis Sullivan's Wainwright Building and the Union Station rail terminal, as well as the steel-truss Eads Bridge (which was built in 1874 to traverse the Mississippi River), inspired the character team ownership sought to create in its new, $365 million (90% bankrolled by team funds) ballpark.

"There are lots of parks out there with novelties like swimming pools and retractable roofs," he said. "Not to knock other teams' plans, but a Cardinal fan tends to be more of a baseball purist, and he wants an atmosphere that speaks to team history while addressing the necessary conveniences of a modern stadium."

Dewitt believed a fan-friendly ballpark required wider concourses, seats more proximal to the playing field and kid-friendly areas &emdash; not to mention a more charming façade than the cast concrete that encircled the former Busch Stadium.