urbanSTL

Slow concessions will get faster (hopefully) as the employees get more experience. But people not knowing where to go had nothing to do with things. People knew where to go to get napkins but they couldn't get to them because they were placed right in the middle of where the consession lines were. The people that were having problems finding things could have found them easier with better signage.



All things that should be improved by Monday. Oh, they should also have lids for the soda cups by then too. Again, a little thing but the little girl who spilled soda all over herself wasn't too happy and neiter was her mother!

buckethead wrote:I was there Tuesday night and my experience was far from perfect. I'm very excited about the new stadium (I have season tickets so I'll be there a lot!). Tuesday night was just a dry run so hopefully they do get the kinks out but I think there were a lot more problems than they anticipated and this was just a crowd of 32,000. If opening day doesn't go more smoothly then there will be plenty of complaints.

The game was sold out, so there won't be any more people there on opening day.

buckethead wrote:
From what I observed, most of the issues were not with the stadium per se, but with the whole ball park experience. There were huge traffic bottlenecks in some areas for no apparent reason. The consession stands were unacceptably slow - and like I mentioned this is with only 32k fans. The wait was sometime over 2 innings long. One of the Men's restrooms was completely filled with smoke. Somehow the grills from a kitchen were venting directly into it. The signage for where things are was inadequate. Placement of trashcans, condiments, things like that were not well thought out and hard to get to.



Overall, I think it was mostly little things, but things you would hope they would have thought of.



Plus, most of the people there on Tuesday were there JUST to evaluate the ballpark. I saw very few people actually interested in the game between the 2 minor league teams. On Monday I imagine most people there will be there to see the Cardinals and maybe many of the issues I mentioned will be resolved.

I did hear 1 person say they waited quite a while for a food item. I did not experience that. But like you said, that is more a logistics problem than a problem with the stadium.



And I think the bottlenecks will disappear too. It looked to me that only about 60% of the seats were ever occupied at any given time. A lot of people were just there to see the stadium, and never even sat in their seats. So there were thousands of people out in the concourses that will not be there during a real game, since everyone will be in their seats watching the game.

I was at the game Tuesday and my experience was pretty positive. I really enjoyed the views of the field from the concourses and the views of downtown. There was a large section of seats in left field that were not being used, I'd imagine those will be open for opening day because I read the capacity would be close to 40,000 at the beginning of the season(counting standing room only).

They released more tickets last week for 5 additional sections that were not open on Tuesday. I also think they did not offer Standing Room Only for the exhibition game. Attendance on Opening day will be almost 40,000.

buckethead wrote:They released more tickets last week for 5 additional sections that were not open on Tuesday. I also think they did not offer Standing Room Only for the exhibition game. Attendance on Opening day will be almost 40,000.

I stand corrected.

The field looked amazing. I can't wait to see how the stadium plays.

I have heard absolutely zero complaining about the ballpark. And I've been reading a lot of Cards forums and such, where people are a little quick to complain. For example, there have been some calling for Juan Encarnacion to be moved out of the 2 hole, calling it a failed experiment. This was after the second game.

I attended the open house yesterday at the new ballpark. It is a different kind of ballpark from the old Busch. While the old stadium was sculptural on a macro scale as well as functional, the new ballpark is largely a ballpark only.



The view of the arch and downtown is stunning. The field looks great. And, despite my sceptism that you could add 2 layers of luxury skyboxes and still improve the view from all the seats, it did seem like all the seats had great views of the field.



Until I attend an actual game, I'm not sure I'm convinced it is more fan friendly than the old ballpark, unless you are a high roller. We have 4-game packs for seats one row in front of the very highest row at the top of the stadium. So we went up there to see what our view would be. Apparently there are just 2 big rampwells -- one on the 3rd base side and one on the 1st base side.



We found escalators, but they stopped one level early and force you into the Redbird Club -- a nice place with expensive food. (I guess it replaces the Stadium Club). From there we had to wind around to find one of the ramps to go up the rest of the way up. In the old Busch -- no matter where you parked, you could go in spiral both up and over to migrate to your seat area. The crowds were more spread out on the ramps. Here, we seemed to be running into people a lot on the few ways to get up. But that may just be an open house thing -- I suspect the dynamics will spread out better with a real game. (I saw a closed escalator also.)



We ate dinner there, and had no problems with food, lines, or any of that that people seemed to have at the minor league opener. One of the servers asked if we like the new Ballpark better than the old. I told him it is growin on me. He flat said he liked the old one better.



There are 2 big behind-the-stands areas -- one on the first level where you walk in, and the open one on top. That top open area will feel really good on a hot summer night, but it didn't have any shade. The highway noise was not a problem at all.



The scoreboard screens was high-res, but not nearly as big as I had hoped -- not as big as the ones at Atlanta or Philly.



So in general, I think the negatives were not as bad as I feared, and the fan friendly things were maybe not as good as I had hoped. The stadium does have a nice feel to it -- lively. I think it is because you can see so much other stuff going on with fans walking around past the outfield, and in party rooms, and SRO. That alone makes will make it seem more alive than the old Busch, I believe.



This is a building young fans will learn to love. While it doesn't seem to break any new ground for stadiums, and it doesn't enhance the skyline, like the old stadium, it will serve the baseball public.



View from the top row:

I loved the old Busch as much as anyone, but that picture you just took says it all for me. It has so much more vibrance around it. In old Busch I always had that cocoon feel. In a couple years when the Village is done the skyline addition will more then add to what little was lost from the old girl. I think you will be hearing less and less about the downfalls of the new stadium as the village really adds to the renaissance. I mean when old Busch replaced Sportsmans I'm sure many of the same things were said.

Are the sections still being installed in the left of this photo the ones that were recently released (and sold out), or might there be another day coming up where they'll release more tickets?





(larger version linked from here)

Gary,



It's my feeling that anyone who says they don't like the new stadium are being a little ridiculous, like the server you talked to. This guy probably worked at the old Busch for years, and now he has to learn his way around a whole new facility. His bias isn't based on a level of reality that you or I work in. There's also a group of fans that would say that there was nothing wrong with the old Busch, so why change. The truth is there was much wrong with the old Busch.



For example, the closed stadium made it extremely tough to grow and maintain the grass. Even with one of the best field crews in baseball, it still got dry and rangy during the hot STL summer days.

Also, like you said it was built as a multipurpose facility, so many close seats for a baseball game gave you a horrible view, and by the end of the game your neck was sore. I hated sitting in the outfield box seats because it would reach the point where you would just end up staring into centerfield for much of the game to avoid the pain.

The facilities for players were outdated. If we want to be able to stay competitive, having new facilities helps out more than you would think it does. Being able to show off your clubhouse as a selling point is a factor. It will help with free agency in the future.

Many parts of the stadium that we never saw were in bad shape. I have a close friend that worked for the Cardinals until a year ago and she would constantly complain about the underneath pathways that were cramped and had leaky pipes, and some of the foundation was in bad shape.



So, there were many practical reasons to need a new stadium.



But the bottom line is, that the people that are unaccustomed to this building will get used to it as time goes along, and all those problems that they have now will be long forgotten. St. Louis will come to love this stadium.

janit0r wrote:Are the sections still being installed in the left of this photo the ones that were recently released (and sold out), or might there be another day coming up where they'll release more tickets?





(larger version linked from here)

They're still being installed they will not be available until the second half or the season. They are not the seats they just recently released tickets for.

I went to the 12-3pm open house shift on Saturday, and I had a blast. The only reason for this was because the new stadium is just so much more like a baseball park should be.



There was three main things that really overwhelmed me. The openess of the northeast corner of the stadium, allowing you to see downtown at almost any seat in the stadium.



The new lighting and TV screens (I believe there will be five total color high-res) that just light up the stadium at night, and bring color to it during the day.



Then the last was a bit of a surprise. As I got closer in line to the concession in the southern main concourse area, I glanced up and saw the old Busch National League score board. I think the location of that, along with the American League one, and the main score board is just perfect. It's not even noticable unless you're really paying attention to your surroundings, which makes it almost a hidden jewel that is a big surprise to see. They also act as a nice buffer from 40.

I attended the open house Saturday evening and was quite impressed with the stadium overall. It's everything I hoped for and more!



The talk of a new stadium was in its infancy when I first visited Jacobs Field in Cleveland almost six years ago. I was impressed with the wide concourses, the variety of food and drink choices, and most of all, the excellent views of the playing field throughout. I've been to other new parks since then, but that was the one that convinced me that the best fans in baseball deserve the best place in which to watch the game.



I loved the old Busch for what it was- a place that held countless childhood memories for me. And it was the most distinctive multipurpose stadium hands-down. But IMHO, it simply cannot compare to a baseball-only facility from a baseball fan's perspective, or from an urbanist's perspective in terms of its relation to its surroundings.



I'd take a nosebleed seat here over a corresponding lower bowl seat in the old Busch anytime. The field views were often compromised in the old place- and that's no problem here. The wide concourses make getting around much easier. It's easier to look into the stadium to watch the game if you're on your way to buy food or beer, and when there's a lull in the action, there are unparalleled views of downtown Saint Louis! And thankfully, the owners spared us nonsense like swimming pools, jacuzzis, etc. This isn't Phoenix, after all...



From an urbanist's perspective, the new stadium will integrate into the downtown fabric better than the former Busch, which was in many ways an island unto itself. The street grid has been partially restored, and Ballpark Village to the north will connect the stadium nicely with the core of downtown. And I hope we'll see more development fill in the gaps on the large surface lots to the south and east. I've grown tired of retro stadium design, but here it's most appropriate IMHO, especially with the stately Cupples Station buildings to the immediate west.



The only negative I witnessed was the occasional traffic jam in certain sections, particularly around some of the gates and ramps. However, it's important to keep in mind that few seats were occupied during the open house, and most of the 30,000 fans in attendance at each section were milling around the concourses. I think that won't be an issue on gamedays, especially when fans become more familiar with the ballpark's layout.



Like I said before, it is everything I expected and then some. I already love it!

I don't think this is as retro as people make it out to be. The old stadiums were baseball stadiums. Made to fill a block, and for people to watch baseball. But the Cardinals don't have all those attempts at 'uniqueness' that makes the other stadiums retro. Like a flagpole in center field, or a short porch. The new stadium fills the block, is a nice mix of steel and brick, shows off downtown, and has neutral lines.



I'm going on Wednesday, and I can't wait to watch Cardinal baseball in their new home.

trent wrote:I'm going on Wednesday, and I can't wait to watch Cardinal baseball in their new home.

I'll also be there Wednesday. I can't wait.

That 'shows off downtown' part is key. 3 million people per year being shown that the city is back. I think it'll go a long way to dispell the perception that many suburbanities still have about the city being a dead spot. Seeing the Pointe 400 building, the new BP Village, and all the other action taking place around might just convince some of the big money that goes through that place that they want to be part of the action. I think this new Ballpark is clutch for downtown.

Cool Merged Photo from Flickr

SoulardD wrote:That 'shows off downtown' part is key. 3 million people per year being shown that the city is back. I think it'll go a long way to dispell the perception that many suburbanities still have about the city being a dead spot. Seeing the Pointe 400 building, the new BP Village, and all the other action taking place around might just convince some of the big money that goes through that place that they want to be part of the action. I think this new Ballpark is clutch for downtown.

I agree to a point...but ask this forum a question posed by an out-of-towner visiting downtown on Saturday: Where can we have lunch [before going to the Busch Stadium Open House]?



We're talking the walkable downtown area. They walked around for over an hour starting at 11:00 am, and settled on BreadCo because it was the only thing they found open.



We've come a long way, but our downtown, sorry to say, is still "dead" much of the time.

Sounds like Mercury (Pablo Weiss' newest venture) is going to be open before and after all the games and is just a short walk from the ballpark.

It was open today, and some nice young lady's were standing outside working at the bar and weloming patrons. At least when I walked by.