Turner Field, Home of the
Atlanta Braves
Photo Credit
Turner Field Overview Turner Field is the home of the Atlanta Braves and has been since 1997. It is located in Atlanta, Georgia. Originally called Centennial Olympic Stadium, it was the main stadium for the 1996 Summer Olympics.
With a seating capacity of 85,000, Centennial Olympic Stadium was the main stadium for the Olympics in 1996. It hosted track and field events along with the opening and closing ceremonies.
When the Olympics and the Paralympics were both over, the stadium went through alterations and was renamed Turner Field. Part of the Centennial Olympic Stadium had to be demolished to get the field dimensions right for baseball.
The Atlanta Braves used to play at the Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium before their new home was ready in 1997. The site of that stadium is now part of the ballpark's parking.
Quick Facts - Location: 755 Hank Aaron Drive in Atlanta, Georgia 30315
- Years: July 19, 1996 for the Summer Olympics and March 30, 1997 for baseball to present
- Seating Capacity: 85,000 for Olympics and for baseball 50,097 with standing room included 54,357
- Surface: Natural Grass
- Architects: Rosser International, Heery International, Williams-Russell and Johnson, and Ellerbe Becket
- Project Cost: $235 million (including the conversion for baseball)
Turner Field History To look at the history of the home of the Atlanta Brave, we must first look at how Centennial Olympic Stadium came into being. When the Olympic Committee approved Atlanta to host the 1996 Summer Olympics, the city had to build additional venues, with the Centennial Olympic Stadium the center of their plans. After privately raising the bulk of the funds for the stadium, construction started in 1993 and was ready for the Opening Ceremonies in July 19, 1996.
The plan was to convert Centennial Olympic Stadium into a baseball stadium after the Olympics. The former home of the Atlanta Braves, Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, sat right across the road from Centennial Olympic Stadium. The Braves demolished Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in 1997.
After the Olympics were over, the ACOG (Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games) paid for the conversion of the Centennial Olympic Stadium into a baseball stadium, and renamed the stadium after Ted Turner a local entrepreneur. They also renamed the section of Capitol Avenue, on which the ballpark sits on, to Hank Aaron Drive.
In the process of reconstructing the stadium for baseball use, they tore down north half of the Centennial Olympic Stadium. This lowered the seating availability down to 49,000 (now the seating is 50,097). The Atlanta Braves stadium lease with Atlanta-Fulton County Recreation Authority expires in 2016.
The Braves started playing in Turner Field in 1997. Renovation in 2005 included a whopping $10 million video display. At this time, Guinness deemed it the largest HD video board in the world. The Braves also installed a 1,080 foot long LED display in the upper deck, basically for the purpose of advertising.
Two advertising fixtures from two Atlanta corporations dominate the view in left field. The fixtures are a 40 foot tall Chick-fil-A cow, installed in 2008, and a large Coca-Cola bottle placed next to the cow in 2009. This was the second version of the bottle by the way. On the cow's head is a Braves hat, and it performs the famous tomahawk chop along with displaying a sign with various advertising slogans pertaining to the fast-food chain.
Turner Field set its best attendance record for a regular season game against the Philadelphia Phillies on October 2, 2010 when 54,296 showed up for a game. Their best attendance mark of 54,357 for a playoff game was against the Chicago Cubs on October 5, 2003. Both games included standing room tickets.
The dimensions for
Turner Field
are 43 feet to the backstop, 330 feet to right field, 401 feet to center field, and 335 feet to left field.
