Ottawa Stadium

From BR Bullpen

Home of Ottawa Lynx, 1993 to 2007 and of Ottawa Rapidz in 2008.

(also known as JetForm Park and Lynx Stadium)

BUILT: 1993

CAPACITY: 10,332

Ottawa Stadium was built by the municipality of Ottawa, ON in 1992-1993 to host the new AAA franchise granted to the city as a result of the expansion of the International League. The Ottawa Lynx played their first home game there in April 1993. The ballpark was known for a time as JetForm Park, after a locally-based software company which purrchased naming rights, although the name stopped being used when the company was bought out by a rival in the late 1990s.

Ottawa Stadium is located at the edge of the city's industrial park, near the highway that links Ottawa and Montreal, QC (in fact, motorists coming from Montreal can catch a glimpse of the playing field as they drive by). The area around the park was largely unbuilt when it opened, but since then a hotel, government offices and a residential development have appeared nearby, as well as a Canadian Tire hardware store visible behind the right field fence.

The playing field is made of natural grass and the park is overall favorable to pitchers. This is a function of being an open stadium in a cold climate, which reduces offense significantly in the cooler months of April, early May and September. When the stadium opened in 1993, Montreal-based reporters noted with envy that the seats are very close to the playing field and afford an excellent and intimate view of the action, something which is very different from the fan experience in cavernous Stade Olympique (the Lynx were a Montreal Expos affiliate at the time).

After being home to the Lynx for all 15 seasons of the team's history, Ottawa Stadium will host the Ottawa Rapidz of the Can-Am Association begining in May 2008.