Oldsmobile Park
From BR Bullpen
- Location: Lansing, MI
- Home Team: Lansing Lugnuts, 1996-present
- Built: 1996
- Seating Capacity: 11,000
- 3D Virtual Tour
Oldsmobile Park is a municipally owned stadium in the city of Lansing, MI and was built entirely by local laborers and craftsmen in the span of only one year. The construction of Oldsmobile Park required over 60,000 manhours of local Union labor. The park is located centrally within Michigan's capitol city and frequently holds promotions catering to state employees and students of the nearby Michigan State University. Oldsmobile Park has frequently hosted the Michigan State Spartans, but from the first pitch in April of 1996 has been the home of the Midwest League's Lansing Lugnuts.
[edit] Dimensions
- Left Field: 305 feet
- Center Field: 412 feet
- Right Field: 305 feet
[edit] Design and features
Oldsmobile Park was designed by HNTB Corporation of Kansas City, MO. HNTB, in cooperation with the city of Lansing, made some interesting choices in the layout and construction of the stadium. Many of the ballparks built as contemporaries with Oldsmobile Park rely heavily on panoramic views of city skylines or natural vistas. The designers of Oldsmobile Park, however, chose rather to focus on the stadium's location within the city. The facing of Oldsmobile Park is intentionally structured to accent Lansing's convention center which is located next door. While the park feels very natural from the street, once within the park the view overlooks residential neighborhoods and factories.
Oldsmobile Park is one of the most handicap accessible parks in the country. The fan friendliness is further extended by the abundant availablity of concessions, each stand with an automotive theme. Seating is decidedly modern, yet even for A league ballparks, feels close to the action of the game. Oldsmobile Park features 26 luxury boxes. For fans who want to pay a little less for tickets, there is an expanse of available lawn seating that stretches across a hill above the outfield wall.
The playing field features 17,500 square feet of sod. The infield mix is 60% clay, 25% sand and 15% brick dust. The park also features onsite office and training facilities for players and on and off the field staff. One of the last remaining features of the auto factory that formerly occupied the site is a single smoke stack, upon which a gigantic silver lugnut has been placed, linking Lansing's past to its present.
