America's Classic Ballpark | |
Former names | Reading Municipal Memorial Stadium GPU Stadium |
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Location | 1900 Centre Avenue Reading, Pennsylvania 19605 |
Coordinates | 40°21′57″N 75°56′1″W / 40.36583°N 75.93361°W |
Public transit | BARTA bus: 19, 20 |
Owner | City of Reading |
Operator | Reading Baseball G.P. |
Capacity | 10,000[5] |
Field size | LF – 330 feet (100 m) CF – 400 feet (120 m) RF – 330 feet (100 m) |
Surface | Grass |
Construction | |
Broke ground | July 26, 1947[1] |
Opened | April 15, 1951 |
Construction cost | $656,674 ($7.71 million in 2023 dollars[2]) |
Architect | Muhlenberg Brothers[3] |
General contractor | Potteiger Construction Company[4] |
Tenants | |
Reading Indians (EL) (1952–1961) Reading Red Sox (EL) (1963–1964) Reading Fightin Phils (EL/Double-A Northeast) (1967–present) |
FirstEnergy Stadium is a 10,000-seat baseball-only stadium in Reading, Pennsylvania, that hosted its first regular season baseball game in 1951. The park is home to the Reading Fightin Phils of the Eastern League. It was voted the second best place to see a baseball game by Minor League News in 2006. It is also the first ballpark to ever receive the annual Digital Ballparks.com Ballpark Of The Year Award, which it was awarded in 2002. It is the first American baseball stadium to reach a total attendance of ten million without ever serving a team higher than AA.