1.
Louisville, Kentucky
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Louisville is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 30th-most populous city in the United States. It is one of two cities in Kentucky designated as first-class, the other being the states second-largest city of Lexington, Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County. Louisville was founded in 1778 by George Rogers Clark and is named after King Louis XVI of France, making Louisville one of the oldest cities west of the Appalachian Mountains. Sited beside the Falls of the Ohio, the major obstruction to river traffic between the upper Ohio River and the Gulf of Mexico, the settlement first grew as a portage site. It was the city of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. Its main airport is also the site of United Parcel Services worldwide air hub, since 2003, Louisvilles borders have been the same as those of Jefferson County because of a city-county merger. The official name of this consolidated city-county government is the Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government, the citys total consolidated population as of the 2014 census estimate was 760,026. However, the total of 612,780 excludes other incorporated places and semiautonomous towns within the county and is the population listed in most sources. As of 2014, the MSA had a population of 1,269,702, the history of Louisville spans hundreds of years, and has been influenced by the areas geography and location. The rapids at the Falls of the Ohio created a barrier to river travel, the first European settlement in the vicinity of modern-day Louisville was on Corn Island in 1778 by Col. George Rogers Clark, credited as the founder of Louisville. Several landmarks in the community are named after him, two years later, in 1780, the Virginia General Assembly approved the town charter of Louisville. The city was named in honor of King Louis XVI of France, early residents lived in forts to protect themselves from Indian raids, but moved out by the late 1780s. In 1803, explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark organized their expedition across America in the town of Clarksville, Indiana at the present-day Falls of the Ohio opposite Louisville, Kentucky. The citys early growth was influenced by the fact river boats had to be unloaded and moved downriver before reaching the falls. By 1828, the population had swelled to 7,000, the city grew rapidly in its formative years. Louisville was a shipping port and slaves worked in a variety of associated trades. The city was often a point of escape for slaves to the north, during the Civil War, Louisville was a major stronghold of Union forces, which kept Kentucky firmly in the Union. It was the center of planning, supplies, recruiting, and transportation for numerous campaigns, by the end of the war, Louisville had not been attacked, although skirmishes and battles, including the battles of Perryville and Corydon, took place nearby
2.
Downtown Louisville
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Downtown Louisville is the largest central business district in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the urban hub of the Louisville, Kentucky Metropolitan Area. Its boundaries are the Ohio River to the north, Hancock Street to the east, York and Jacob Streets to the south, as of 2000, the population of Downtown Louisville was 2,575. The five main areas of the Central Business District consist of, of the 16 buildings in Kentucky over 300 feet,12 are in Downtown Louisville. In addition, it is the center of local and regional government, a glassed-in skywalk called the Louie Link stretches six city blocks and links together the Kentucky International Convention Center, Fourth Street Live. Three hotels, and 2,300 hotel rooms, Downtown Louisville is the oldest part of the city of Louisville, whose initial development was closely tied to the Ohio River. The largest early fort, Fort Nelson, was built in 1781 near what is today the corner of 7th, many early residents lived nearby after moving out of the forts by the mid-1780s, although little remains of the earliest structures. Early plans of the city, such as William Popes original plan in 1783, the earliest streets, Main, Market and Jefferson retain their original names from the plan, while the smaller Green Street is now known as Liberty. Main Street was the initial commercial hub for nearly a century. By 1830 Louisville passed Lexington as Kentuckys largest city, with a population over 10,000, the steamboat era saw the opening of the Louisville and Portland Canal just west of downtown, and local commerce picked up further with the founding of banks and manufacturing. Most of Louisvilles population was packed into downtown, which by this time stretched as far south as Prather Street, many still-remaining buildings reveal what the area was like at this time, with narrow, two to four-story buildings packing the streets. The area and the city continued to grow during the railroad era, railroads lead to a diminished role for the river in transportation, further reducing the importance of downtown in favor of areas on what was then the edge of the city, along rail lines. In 1886, the first skyscraper, the Kenyon Building, was completed on Fifth Street, the development of three large suburban parks and the electrified streetcar lead to the first true movement to the suburbs at this time. Some of downtowns business and industry followed people toward these areas, but by the 1920s the commercial center of Louisville was still nearby, at 4th and Broadway, dubbed the magic corner by the Herald-Post. The riverfront area of downtown was still being improved, such as with the building of what is now George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge across the Ohio at Second Street in 1929. After World War II, suburbanization increased and downtown began to decline as interstate highways further reduced the importance of its central location, since the 1970s, downtown has been the subject of both urban renewal and historic preservation efforts. While many new buildings have built, it has sometimes been at the expense of older landmarks. Many buildings sat totally or mostly vacant at this time, many riverfront industrial sites were abandoned or saw limited use, many were eventually redeveloped into Louisville Waterfront Park. Other issues in the 1970s through the early 1990s included a theater district on Jefferson Street that had become dubbed the porno district
3.
Coca-Cola
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Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink produced by The Coca-Cola Company. The drinks name refers to two of its ingredients, which were kola nuts and coca leaves. The current formula of Coca-Cola remains a secret, although a variety of reported recipes. The Coca-Cola Company produces concentrate, which is sold to licensed Coca-Cola bottlers throughout the world. The bottlers, who hold exclusive territory contracts with the company, produce the product in cans and bottles from the concentrate, in combination with filtered water. A typical 12-US-fluid-ounce can contains 38 grams of sugar, the bottlers then sell, distribute and merchandise Coca-Cola to retail stores, restaurants and vending machines throughout the world. The Coca-Cola Company also sells concentrate for soda fountains of major restaurants, the Coca-Cola Company has on occasion introduced other cola drinks under the Coke name. Based on Interbrands best global brand study of 2015, Coca-Cola was the third most valuable brand. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries worldwide, confederate Colonel John Pemberton, who was wounded in the American Civil War and became addicted to morphine, began a quest to find a substitute for the problematic drug. The prototype Coca-Cola recipe was formulated at Pembertons Eagle Drug and Chemical House and he may have been inspired by the formidable success of Vin Mariani, a French coca wine. It is also worth noting that a Spanish drink called Kola Coca was presented at a contest in Philadelphia in 1885, the patent for this Spanish drink was bought by Coca-Cola in 1953. In 1885, Pemberton registered his French Wine Coca nerve tonic, in 1886, when Atlanta and Fulton County passed prohibition legislation, Pemberton responded by developing Coca-Cola, a nonalcoholic version of French Wine Coca. The first sales were at Jacobs Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia, Pemberton claimed Coca-Cola cured many diseases, including morphine addiction, indigestion, nerve disorders, headaches, and impotence. Pemberton ran the first advertisement for the beverage on May 29 of the year in the Atlanta Journal. By 1888, three versions of Coca-Cola – sold by three separate businesses – were on the market, a co-partnership had been formed on January 14,1888 between Pemberton and four Atlanta businessmen, J. C. Mayfield, A. O. Not codified by any signed document, a statement given by Asa Candler years later asserted under testimony that he had acquired a stake in Pembertons company as early as 1887. John Pemberton declared that the name Coca-Cola belonged to his son, Charley, Charleys exclusive control over the Coca Cola name became a continual thorn in Asa Candlers side. Candlers oldest son, Charles Howard Candler, authored a book in 1950 published by Emory University, in this definitive biography about his father, Candler specifically states
4.
Lego
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Lego is a line of plastic construction toys that are manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The companys flagship product, Lego, consists of interlocking plastic bricks accompanying an array of gears, figurines called minifigures. Lego pieces can be assembled and connected in ways, to construct objects, vehicles, buildings. Anything constructed can then be taken again, and the pieces used to make other objects. The Lego Group began manufacturing the interlocking toy bricks in 1949, since then a global Lego subculture has developed. Supporting movies, games, competitions, and six Legoland amusement parks have developed under the brand. As of July 2015,600 billion Lego parts had been produced, in February 2015, Lego replaced Ferrari as Brand Finances worlds most powerful brand. The Lego Group began in the workshop of Ole Kirk Christiansen, a carpenter from Billund, Denmark, in 1934, his company came to be called Lego, derived from the Danish phrase leg godt, which means play well. In 1947, Lego expanded to begin producing plastic toys, in 1949 Lego began producing, among other new products, an early version of the now familiar interlocking bricks, calling them Automatic Binding Bricks. These bricks were based in part on the Kiddicraft Self-Locking Bricks, Lego modified the design of the Kiddicraft brick after examining a sample that they received from the supplier of an injection-molding machine that Lego purchased. The bricks, originally manufactured from cellulose acetate, were a development of the traditional wooden blocks of the time. The Lego Groups motto is det bedste er ikke for godt which means only the best is the best. This motto, which is used today, was created by Ole Kirk to encourage his employees never to skimp on quality. Although a common sentiment, Lego toys seem to have become a significant exception to the dislike of plastic in childrens toys, by 1954, Christiansens son, Godtfred, had become the junior managing director of the Lego Group. It was his conversation with a buyer that led to the idea of a toy system. In 1958, the brick design was developed, however, it took another five years to find the right material for it. The modern Lego brick design was patented on 28 January 1958, in 1978, Lego produced the first minifigures, which have since become a staple in most sets. The results will be shared with schools as part of an educational project, in May 2013, the largest model ever created was displayed in New York and was made of over 5 million bricks, a 1,1 scale model of an X-wing fighter
5.
The Children's Museum of Indianapolis
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The Childrens Museum of Indianapolis is the worlds largest childrens museum. It is located at 3000 North Meridian Street, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, the museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. It is 472,900 square feet with five floors of exhibit halls and its collection of over 120,000 artifacts and exhibit items is divided into three domains, the American Collection, the Cultural World Collection, and the Natural World Collection. Among the exhibits are a simulated Cretaceous dinosaur habitat, a carousel, the museums focus is family learning, most exhibits are designed to be interactive, allowing children and families to actively participate. Founded in 1925 by Mary Stewart Carey with the help of Indianapolis civic leaders and organizations, the current site became home for the museum in 1946, the current building was constructed in 1976, and has had four major expansions since then. The museum hosts thousands of activities annually, including plays at the Lilly Theater, classes and workshops for children, traveling exhibits. With a 2008 budget of $28.7 million, it has 400 employees and 1,500 volunteers and its financial stability is ensured by a large endowment that was first established in the 1960s and is governed by a board of trustees. The Childrens Museum of Indianapolis was founded in 1925 by Mary Stewart Carey and she was inspired to create the museum after a 1924 visit to the Brooklyn Childrens Museum. Carey began a campaign to start a Childrens Museum in Indianapolis and enlisted the aid of local civic leaders. With their support, the museum opened in a complex that belonged to Propylaeums. A board of trustees was established to manage the museum and Carey was elected its first president, the early exhibits were created and donated by school children. Carey sought a facility and after two moves, she finally located the museum in her own mansion on Meridian Street in 1926. The same year the first curator, Arthur Carr was hired, Carr arranged Careys specimens into exhibits and managed the museum. The first permanent exhibits were marine, Japanese, pioneer, archeology, by the 1940s, a larger staff was hired and Carr became director after Careys 1938 death. The museum began offering guided tours to children, organized traveling exhibits that were moved around to area schools. Early members were given a Seahorse pin to identify them as Youth members, in 1942, Carr retired from the museum and Grace Golden became the new director. Golden sought to expand the museum and successfully solicited grants from the Indianapolis Foundation, the Lilly Endowment. She also secured several important corporate sponsorships, the new revenue allowed the museum to purchase its own building, a former mansion on North Meridian Street
6.
Ripley's Believe It or Not!
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Ripleys Believe It or Not. is an American franchise, founded by Robert Ripley, which deals in bizarre events and items so strange and unusual that readers might question the claims. The Believe It or Not panel proved popular and was adapted into a wide variety of formats, including radio, television, comic books, a chain of museums. The Ripley collection includes 20,000 photographs,30,000 artifacts, with 80-plus attractions, the Orlando-based Ripley Entertainment, Inc. a division of the Jim Pattison Group, is a global company with an annual attendance of more than 12 million guests. Ripley Entertainments publishing and broadcast divisions oversee numerous projects, including the syndicated TV series, the cartoon panel, books, posters. Ripley first called his cartoon feature, originally involving sports feats, Champs and Chumps, Ripley began adding items unrelated to sports, and in October 1919, he changed the title to Believe It or Not. When the Globe folded in 1923, Ripley moved to the New York Evening Post, other writers and researchers included Lester Byck. In 1930, Ripley moved to the New York American and picked up by the King Features Syndicate, paul Frehm won the National Cartoonists Societys Newspaper Panel Cartoon Award for 1976 for his work on the series. Clarke later created parodies of Believe It or Not. for Mad, as did Wally Wood and Ernie Kovacs, the current artist is John Graziano and current researcher is Sabrina Sieck. Dozens of paperback editions reprinting the newspaper panels have been published over the decades, other strips and books borrowed the Ripley design and format, such as Ralph Graczaks Our Own Oddities, John Hixs Strange as it Seems, and Gordon Johnstons It Happened in Canada. Recent Ripleys Believe It or Not, books containing new material have supplemented illustrations with photographs. Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulzs first publication of artwork was published by Ripley and it was a cartoon claiming his dog was a hunting dog who eats pins, tacks, screws, nails and razor blades. Schulzs dog Spike later became the model for Peanuts Snoopy, some notable books, Believe it or not. In 2004 Ripley Entertainment founded Ripley Publishing Ltd, based in the United Kingdom, the company produces the New York Times bestselling Ripleys Believe It or Not. Annuals, the children’s fiction series Ripley’s RBI, a series called the Ripley’s Twists. Special Edition in conjunction with Scholastic USA and a number of other titles, the people whose items are featured in such books as Strikingly True, have what Edward Meyer, Vice President of Exhibits and Archives at Ripley Entertainment Inc. describes as an obsession. “Whatever it is theyre after, it is so important to them all the rest of the world can go on without them. They want to make something that makes them immortal, makes them a different than you. To be included in Ripleys Believe It or Not books, museums, or television shows, items must undergo scrutiny from Ripleys staff and be 100% authenticated
7.
Jeffersonville, Indiana
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Jeffersonville /ˈdʒɛfərsənvɪl/ is a city in Clark County, Indiana, along the Ohio River. Locally, the city is referred to by the abbreviated name Jeff. It is directly across the Ohio River to the north of Louisville, Kentucky, the population was 44,953 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Clark County, in 1786 Fort Finney was situated where the Kennedy Bridge is today to protect the area from Indians, and a settlement grew around the fort. The fort was renamed in 1791 to Fort Steuben in honor of Baron von Steuben, in 1793 the fort was abandoned. Precisely when the settlement became known as Jeffersonville is unclear, but it was probably around 1801, in 1802 local residents used a grid pattern designed by Thomas Jefferson for the formation of a city. On September 13,1803, a post office was established in the city, in 1808 Indianas second federal land sale office was established in Jeffersonville, which initiated a growth in settling in Indiana that was further spurred by the end of the War of 1812. Shortly after formation, Jeffersonville was named to be the county seat of Clark County in 1802, in 1812 Charlestown was named the county seat, but the county seat returned to Jeffersonville in 1878, where it remains. However, it is debated by some that Dennis Pennington had some involvement to his location to Jeffersonville, the territorial legislature remained in Corydon and communicated with Posey by messenger. In 1825, General Lafayette visited Jeffersonville on his United States tour, the Civil War increased the importance of Jeffersonville, as the city was one of the principal gateways to the South during the war, due to its location directly opposite Louisville. It was served by three railroads from the north and had the waterway of the Ohio River and this factor influenced its selection as one of the principal bases for supplies and troops for the Union Army. Operating in the South, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad furnished the connecting link between Louisville and the rest of the South, camp Joe Holt was instrumental in keeping Kentucky within the Union. The third largest Civil War hospital, Jefferson General Hospital was located in nearby Port Fulton from 1864 to 1866, as it was close to the river and Louisville. The original land was seized by the government from the Honorable Jesse D. Bright, United States Senator. During the war it housed 16,120 patients in its 5,200 beds and was under the command of Dr. Middleton Goldsmith, the Jeffersonville Quartermaster Intermediate Depot had its first beginning in the early days of the Civil War, near its present location. By 1870, 17% of Jeffersonville residents were foreign-born, mostly from Germany, during the 1920s, Jeffersonville was a popular gathering place for the Ku Klux Klan, as Louisville and New Albany had strong anti-Klan laws and Jeffersonville did not. Gambling in the 1930s and 1940s was instrumental in Jeffersonvilles recovery from the Great Depression, casinos, betting parlors, night clubs, and even a dog track were present, giving the town the nickname Little Las Vegas. After Clarence Amster, a New Albany businessman was gunned down on July 2,1937, bottorff, ensured that the equipment was confiscated and the money at the casinos given to charity
8.
Ted Williams
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Theodore Samuel Williams was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball career as a fielder for the Boston Red Sox from 1939 to 1942 and 1946 to 1960, excepting service time during World War II. Nicknamed The Kid, The Splendid Splinter, Teddy Ballgame, The Thumper and The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived, Williams was also an outstanding fielder, especially in the difficult left field of Fenway Park in Boston, where he played his entire Major League career at that position. Williams was a seventeen-time All-Star, a recipient of the American League Most Valuable Player Award, a six-time AL batting champion. He finished his career with a.344 batting average,521 home runs, and a 0.482 on-base percentage. His batting average is the highest of any MLB player with 302 or more home runs, born and raised in San Diego, Williams played baseball throughout his youth. Joining the Red Sox in 1939, he emerged as one of the sports best hitters. In 1941, Williams posted a.406 batting average, making him the last MLB player to bat over.400 in a season and he followed this up by winning his first Triple Crown in 1942. Williams interrupted his career in 1943 to serve three years in the US Navy and US Marine Corps during World War II. Upon returning to MLB in 1946, Williams won his first AL MVP Award, in 1947, he won his second Triple Crown. Williams was returned to military duty for portions of the 1952 and 1953 seasons to serve as a Marine combat aviator in the Korean War. In 1957 and 1958 at the ages of 39 and 40, respectively, Williams retired from playing in 1960. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966, Williams managed the Washington Senators/Texas Rangers franchise from 1969 to 1972. An avid sport fisherman, he hosted a program about fishing. Williams involvement in the Jimmy Fund helped raise millions in dollars for cancer care, in 1991 President George H. W. Bush presented Williams with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award bestowed by the United States government. He was selected for the Major League Baseball All-Time Team in 1997, Ted Williams was born Theodore Samuel Williams in San Diego, California. At some later date he amended his birth certificate, removing his name, which he claimed originated from a maternal uncle. His father was a soldier, sheriff, and photographer from New York, while his mother, May Venzor, Williams resented his mothers long hours working in the Salvation Army, and Williams and his brother cringed when she took them to the Armys street-corner revivals
9.
Ernie Banks
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He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977, and was named to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999. Banks is regarded by some as one of the greatest players of all time and he began playing professional baseball in 1950 with the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro leagues. He served in the U. S. military for two years, played for the Monarchs again, and began his league career in September 1953. The following year, Banks was the National League Rookie of the Year runner-up, beginning in 1955, Banks was a National League All-Star for 11 seasons, playing in 13 of the 15 All-Star Games held during those seasons. Banks was the Cubs main attraction in the late 1950s, the National League Most Valuable Player in 1958 and 1959, in 1962, Banks became a regular first baseman for the Cubs. In the mid-1960s, Cubs manager Leo Durocher became frustrated with Banks, Durocher said he was unable to remove Banks from the lineup due to the stars popularity among Cubs fans. Between 1967 and 1971, he was a player-coach, in 1969, through a Chicago Sun-Times fan poll, Cubs fans voted him the greatest Cub ever. In 1970, Banks hit his 500th career home run at Wrigley Field and he retired from playing in 1971, was a coach for the Cubs in 1972, and in 1982 was the teams first player to have his uniform number retired. Banks was active in the Chicago community during and after his tenure with the Cubs and he founded a charitable organization, became the first black Ford Motor Company dealer in the United States, and made an unsuccessful bid for a local political office. In 2013, Banks was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his contribution to sports, Banks lived in the Los Angeles and Chicago areas. Banks was born in Dallas, Texas, to Eddie and Essie Banks on January 31,1931 and his father, who had worked in construction and was a warehouse loader for a grocery chain, played baseball for black, semi-professional teams in Texas. As a child, Banks was not very interested in baseball, preferring swimming and his father bought him a baseball glove for less than three dollars at a five and dime store and motivated him with nickels and dimes to play catch. His mother encouraged him to one of his grandfathers into a career as a minister. Banks graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in 1950 and he lettered in basketball, football and track. Banks school did not have a team, he played fastpitch softball for a church team during the summer. He was also a member of the Amarillo Colts, a baseball team. History professor Timothy Gilfoyle wrote that Banks talent for baseball was discovered by Bill Blair, other sources say Banks was noticed by Cool Papa Bell of the Monarchs. In 1951, Banks was drafted into the U. S. Army and he served as a flag bearer in the 45th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion at Fort Bliss, where he played with the Harlem Globetrotters on a part-time basis
10.
Wilson Sporting Goods
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The Wilson Sporting Goods Company is an American sports equipment manufacturer based in Chicago, Illinois. Since 1989, it has been a subsidiary of the Finnish group Amer Sports. The company traces its roots to the Schwarzschild & Sulzberger meatpacking company based in New York, Sulzberger & Sons founded the Ashland Manufacturing Company in 1913 to use animal by-products from its slaughterhouses. It started out making tennis racket strings, violin strings, and surgical sutures but soon expanded into baseball shoes and tennis racquets. In 1915, Thomas E. Wilson, former president of meatpacker Morris & Company, was appointed President by the controlling banks, the company acquired the Hetzinger Knitting Mills to produce athletic uniforms and a caddie bag company which produced golf balls but soon expanded into footballs and basketballs. In 1918, Wilson left to concentrate on the beef-packing business, the packing company continued to have control in the company until 1966 when it was sold to LTV. Icely it acquired the Chicago Sporting Goods Company and struck a deal to supply the Chicago Cubs and it also hired Arch Turner, a leather designer who would design the leather football. In 1922, it introduced the Ray Schalk catchers mitt which became the standard and it worked with Knute Rockne to introduce the double-lined leather football and first valve football and the first waist-line football pants with pads. In 1925, it was renamed Wilson-Western Sporting Goods following an agreement with Western Sporting Goods. After Rocknes death, the focused on golf, introducing the R-90. In 1931, it renamed itself Wilson Sporting Goods Company, Horween Leather Company has supplied Wilson with pebbled cowhide since 1941 for use in the manufacture of footballs and basketballs. Wilson is Horween Leather Companys largest customer, after the war, Wilson focused on tennis and signed Jack Kramer, who developed its line of Jack Kramer signed tennis rackets. Icley died in 1950 but the continued to expand with many believing that Icelys introduction of a computer to monitor inventory had been a huge help. In 1955, it acquired Ohio-Kentucky Manufacturing for making footballs, in 1964 it acquired Wonder Products Company, which made toys and custom-molded items. It transformed the custom-mold section to make protective equipment in football and baseball, such as masks for football helmets. In 1967, the company was acquired by Ling-Temco-Vought, only three years after, PepsiCo became new Wilsons owner. In 1979, Wilson tennis balls were first used in the US Open, in 2006, the Australian Open began using Wilson Tennis Balls. In 1985, Wilson was acquired by Westray Capital Corporation through subsidiary WSGC Holdings, in 1989, WSGC merged with Bogey Acquisitions Company, which is affiliated with the Finnish group Amer Sports
11.
Guaranteed Rate Field
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Guaranteed Rate Field is a baseball park located in Chicago, Illinois. It serves as the ballpark for the Chicago White Sox. The park is owned by the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, the park opened for the 1991 season, after the White Sox had spent 81 years at the original Comiskey Park. It also opened with the name Comiskey Park but was renamed U. S, cellular Field in 2003 after U. S. Cellular bought the rights at $68 million over 20 years. The stadium is situated just to the west of the Dan Ryan Expressway in Chicagos Armour Square neighborhood and it was built directly across 35th Street from old Comiskey Park, which was demolished to make room for a parking lot that serves the venue. Old Comiskeys home plate location is represented by a plaque on the sidewalk next to Guaranteed Rate Field. Also, the spectator ramp across 35th Street is designed in such a way that it echoes the contour of the old first-base grandstand, the park was completed at a cost of US$167 million. The current public address announcer is Gene Honda, who serves as the PA announcer for the Chicago Blackhawks, NCAA Final Four. The stadium was the first new major sporting facility built in Chicago since Chicago Stadium in 1929 and it was also the last one built before the wave of new retro-classic ballparks in the 1990s and 2000s. However, a few features from the old park were retained. The front facade of the park features arched windows, most notable is the exploding scoreboard which pays homage to the original installed by Bill Veeck at the old park in 1960. The original field dimensions and seating configuration were very similar to those of Royals Stadium in Kansas City—which had been the last baseball-only park built in the majors, as originally built, the park was criticized by many fans because of the height of the upper deck. The original architect, HOK Sport, wanted to eliminate the problems present in many stadiums built since the 1970s. With this in mind, the deck was set back over the lower deck. While it gave nearly every seat in the level an unobstructed view of the field. The first row of seats in the deck at the new stadium is as far from the field as the highest row of seats in the upper deck at the old stadium. g. In response to fan complaints, the stadium has undergone renovations since the 2001 season in order to retrofit the facility to current architectural trends
12.
Miller Park (Milwaukee)
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Miller Park is a baseball park located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is home to the Milwaukee Brewers and was completed in 2001 as a replacement for Milwaukee County Stadium, the park is located just southwest of the intersection of Interstate 94 and Miller Park Way. The title sponsor is the Miller Brewing Company, millers contract with the stadium was for $40 million, and runs until 2020. Miller Park features North Americas only fan-shaped convertible roof, which can open, large panes of glass allow natural grass to grow, augmented with heat lamp structures wheeled out across the field during the off-season. Miller Park is one of the largest construction projects in Wisconsin history and it was built with US$290 million of public funds from a 0. 1% sales tax that began January 1,1996, and is scheduled for retirement upon completion, sometime around 2017. The tax is applied on purchases in Milwaukee County and four surrounding counties, Ozaukee, Racine, Washington, the tax was controversial, in part because of the notion of using public funds for a privately owned sports team. The state senator who cast the vote in the funding bill, George Petak of Racine. Groundbreaking took place on November 9,1996, in a lot behind County Stadium. Originally scheduled to open in 2000, Miller Parks construction was delayed after three construction workers were killed in an accident. A Lampson Transi-lift crane 3, brought in to build the roof, collapsed while lifting a 450-ton roof section, during windy conditions, on July 14,1999, killing three workers. A camera crew was filming construction of the stadium on that day, repair work and an investigation forced the Brewers to stay in County Stadium for one more year, until 2001. There was some talk of having the Brewers move to Miller Park in the middle of 2000, the complex and massive roof was a significant factor in the $392 million cost of the stadium. The idea of the stadium having a retractable roof had been considered right away in the design, as to help counter the unpredictable Wisconsin weather in the early spring. The design team was appointed after a competition in the mid-1990s. The executive architect responsible for the delivery of the stadium design was a Dallas-based team of HKS. In addition to major players there were a significant contributions from local teams including Eppstein Uhen Architects. The stadium design followed the trend of retro-designed ballparks with current amenities that began in 1992 with Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore. The original grass playing surface was installed on March 10,2001, with County Stadiums surface infield dirt, the unconventional fan-shaped retractable roof has not been without complications
