First Horizon Park

First Horizon Park
First Horizon Park at dusk
Map
Former namesFirst Tennessee Park (2015–2019)
Location19 Junior Gilliam Way[1]
Nashville, Tennessee
United States
Coordinates36°10′22″N 86°47′05″W / 36.17278°N 86.78472°W / 36.17278; -86.78472
Elevation405 ft (123 m)
OwnerMetropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County
OperatorNashville Sounds Baseball Club
Capacity8,500 (fixed seating)[7]
10,000 (plus berm seating)[7]
Record attendance12,409 (July 16, 2022; Nashville Sounds vs. Memphis Redbirds)[8]
Field sizeBaseball:
Left field: 330 ft (100 m)
Left-center field: 386 ft (118 m)
Center field: 403 ft (123 m)
Right-center field: 388 ft (118 m)
Right field: 310 ft (94 m)[4]A diagram of the baseball field
Soccer: 115 yd × 72 yd
(105 m × 66 m)[9]
Acreage10.8 acres (4.4 ha)[4]
SurfaceLatitude 36 Bermudagrass[4]
Construction
Broke groundJanuary 27, 2014[2]
OpenedApril 17, 2015[3]
Construction cost$91 million[5]
($117 million in 2023 dollars[6])
ArchitectPopulous[7]
Hastings Architecture Associates[7]
Project managerGobbell Hays Partners[7]
Capital Project Solutions[7]
Structural engineerWalter P. Moore[7]
Services engineerSmith Seckman Reid[7]
General contractorBarton Malow/Bell/Harmony, A Joint Venture[7]
Tenants
Nashville Sounds (PCL/AAAE/IL) 2015–present
Nashville SC (USLC) 2018–2019

First Horizon Park, formerly known as First Tennessee Park, is a baseball park in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, United States. The home of the Triple-A Nashville Sounds of the International League, it opened on April 17, 2015, and can seat up to 10,000 people. It replaced the Sounds' former home, Herschel Greer Stadium, where the team played from its founding in 1978 through 2014.

The park was built on the site of the former Sulphur Dell, a minor league ballpark in use from 1885 to 1963. It is located between Third and Fifth Avenues on the east and west (home plate, the pitcher's mound, and second base are directly in line with Fourth Avenue to the stadium's north and south) and between Junior Gilliam Way and Harrison Street on the north and south. The Nashville skyline can be seen from the stadium to the south.

The design of the park incorporates elements of Nashville's baseball and musical heritage and the use of imagery inspired by Sulphur Dell, the city's former baseball players and teams, and country music. Its most distinctive feature is its guitar-shaped scoreboard—a successor to the original guitar scoreboard at Greer Stadium. The ballpark's wide concourse wraps entirely around the stadium and provides views of the field from every location.

Though primarily a venue for the Nashville Sounds, collegiate and high school baseball teams based in the area, such as the Vanderbilt Commodores and Belmont Bruins, have played some games at the ballpark. Nashville SC, a soccer team of the USL Championship, played its home matches at the facility from 2018 to 2019. It has also hosted other events, including celebrity softball games and various food and drink festivals.

  1. ^ "Sounds Woes Continue". Nashville Sounds. Minor League Baseball. July 28, 2015. Archived from the original on February 14, 2020. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  2. ^ "Mayor, Nashville Sounds Celebrate Groundbreaking for New Ballpark". Nashville.gov. Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee. January 27, 2014. Archived from the original on May 1, 2015. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
  3. ^ Reichard, Kevin (April 20, 2015). "First Tennessee Park / Nashville Sounds". Ballpark Digest. August Publications. Archived from the original on July 4, 2015. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
  4. ^ a b c Nashville Sounds Media Guide 2022, p. 2.
  5. ^ "Audit of the First Tennessee Ballpark Construction Project" (PDF). Metropolitan Nashville Office of Internal Audit. April 24, 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 18, 2020. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  6. ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Fact Sheet – Highlights of First Tennessee Park Construction Tour". Nashville.gov. Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee. February 4, 2015. Archived from the original on February 12, 2015. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  8. ^ "Sounds Break First Horizon Park Attendance Record". Nashville Sounds. Minor League Baseball. July 16, 2022. Archived from the original on July 17, 2022. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  9. ^ Organ, Mike (September 12, 2017). "Nashville SC: Everything You Need to Know". The Tennessean. Nashville. Retrieved September 13, 2017.