- Cardinal Stadium
:"See also
University of Phoenix Stadium for the current home of theArizona Cardinals football team."Cardinal Stadium is the name of a former college andminor league baseball andcollege football stadium inLouisville, Kentucky . It is on the grounds of theKentucky Exposition Center , and was called Fairgrounds Stadium when it first opened its doors to baseball in 1957.The lone
Bluegrass Bowl was held here in 1958. Cardinal Stadium was home to theLouisville Raiders football team from 1960 through 1962. It was the home to two minor league baseball teams in Louisville: theLouisville Colonels in 1968-1972 and theLouisville Redbirds in 1982-1999. It was to be the home of theAmerican League Kansas City Athletics when their ownerCharles O. Finley signed a contract to move the team to Louisville in 1964, but the American League owners voted against the move. TheKentucky Trackers of the AFA played at Cardinal Stadium 1979-1980. It also served as the home of theUniversity of Louisville football team from 1957-1997 and their baseball team 1998-2004. It was also used heavily as ahigh school football stadium, hosting state championship games from in 1964-2002, including hosting all four state championship games played annually 1979-2002. Several local schools also played some games in Cardinal Stadium prior to 1998, including the annual St. Xavier-Trinity rivalry featuring the two major boysCatholic high schools in the city.The stadium was renamed Cardinal Stadium in 1982, due to the stadium being renovated to be primarily a football stadium for the University. Coincidentally, the Louisville Redbirds of the American Association, the AAA team of the
St. Louis Cardinals , became co-tenants of the stadium that same year.The stadium is now largely vacant, with its primary use as a venue for events at the
Kentucky State Fair . This is due to the University's football team moving intoPapa John's Cardinal Stadium in 1998, the minor league baseball team, now named theLouisville Bats and playing in theInternational League , moving intoLouisville Slugger Field in 2000, and finally the University's baseball team moving intoJim Patterson Stadium in 2005.There was talk about tearing down Cardinal Stadium in order to build a new indoor arena, as part of the long term push to build a new indoor-facility to replace the aging
Freedom Hall which is also at the Exposition Center, however, this is not likely to happen in the near future, as the city is building a new downtown arena. The most recent plans from the Kentucky State Fair Board seek to demolish this facility to build an outdoor amphitheater with permanent seating for 12,000.Dimensions
During its final year as a minor league ballpark:
*Left Field - 360 ft / 110 m
*Center Field - 405 ft / 123 m
*Right Field - 312 ft / 95 mee also
*
Sports in Louisville, Kentucky External links
* [http://www.kysportsauthority.com/sports-news-events/news-announcements.asp?id=533 Fair Board Wants to Build 12,000 Seat Amphitheater]
* [http://www.minorleagueballparks.com/card_ky.html Minor League Ballparks page on Cardinal Stadium]
* [http://mysite.verizon.net/charliesballparks/stadiums/cardinal.htm Info about the stadium, with some candid comments]
* [http://kentucky.gov/Newsroom/ltgovernor/arena2.htm Arena Task Force minutes regarding tearing down Cardinal Stadium]
* [http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.aspx?T=4&S=10&Z=16&X=3050&Y=21144&W=1&qs=%7cLouisville%7cKY%7c USGS aerial photo]
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