Hoover Metropolitan Stadium
Regions Park (formerly Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, or the Hoover Met), is a minor league baseball stadium located in Hoover. It has been the home of the Birmingham Barons of the Southern League since 1988, replacing historic Rickwood Field in Birmingham. It was designed by Kansas City, Missouri-based HOK Sport. The stadium is located at 100 Ben Chapman Drive, just off Stadium Trace Parkway near Interstate 459 at Exit 10.
Many sports experts regard the stadium as one of the best of its kind in the nation. The seating capacity is 10,800 for baseball and can accommodate up to 16,000 when the patio, banquet, and grassy side areas are used. The stadium also houses 12 suites and state-of-the-art dressing and training rooms. It features a meeting/banquet room named for Michael Jordan, who played for the 1994 Birmingham Barons.
The Hoover Parks and Recreation Board operates the stadium and an adjacent recreational vehicle park.
The stadium also serves as the home for the SEC baseball tournament as well as Hoover High School football. Hoover Metropolitan Stadium hosted the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) Birmingham Open on July 13-16, 2006, the first beach volleyball tournament to ever be played in Alabama. The feature court was above the baseball diamond as well as eight other courts on the field, made of 222 tons of sand per court.
In March 2007 the Barons purchased naming rights for the stadium from the parks board for $110,000 per year for 9 years. The Barons, in turn, struck a deal with Regions Bank to rename the stadium "Regions Park".
In 2008 the Barons purchased a new 42'-9" tall by 56' wide scoreboard from Daktronics, Inc. It has a 35' x 15' main video screen for replays and a smaller second screen for player information.
In November 2010 the Barons signed a letter of intent to relocate to a planned new Downtown baseball park in Birmingham as early as 2012. Hoover Mayor Tony Petelos has said that the city will accept nothing short of a 5-year extension of the team's lease, which is up for renewal in December 2010, complicating the planned move. Art Clarkson has said he would bring an independent league team to Regions Park if it became available.
The Barons opened the gates for free admission to the team's last two games of the 2012 season.
References
- Hoover Metropolitan Stadium. (2006, December 25). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 14:49, January 31, 2007, [1]
- Batson, Roger Jr (March 14, 2007) "Met becomes Regions Park." The Birmingham News
- DeButts, Jimmy (March 6, 2008) "Daktronics will install new Barons scoreboard." Birmingham Business Journal
- Piper, Ben (October 15, 2010) "Independent league baseball may slide into Regions Park." Birmingham Business Journal
- Segrest, Doug (November 6, 2010) "Birmingham Barons hope to extend Hoover lease on short-term basis." The Birmingham News
External links
- Hoover Metropolitan Stadium Views - Ball Parks of the Minor Leagues
- City of Hoover - The Hoover Met
- City of Hoover - RV Park
- AVP Birmingham-Hoover Open presented by Vault