Truist Stadium
Truist Stadium is a ballpark in Winston-Salem, North Carolina that replaced Ernie Shore Field. It is primarily used for baseball, and is the home field of the Winston-Salem Dash minor league baseball team.
| Former names | BB&T Ballpark (2010-2020) |
|---|---|
| Address | 951 Ballpark Way |
| Location | Winston-Salem, NC 27101 |
| Coordinates | 36.091602°N 80.255962°W |
| Owner | City of Winston-Salem |
| Operator | Winston-Salem Dash LLC |
| Capacity | 5,500 |
| Field size | Left field: 315 ft (96 m) Center field: 399 ft (122 m) Right field: 323 ft (98 m)[1] |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | October 30, 2007 |
| Opened | April 10, 2010 |
| Construction cost | $48.7 million[2] ($57.1 million in 2019 dollars[3]) |
| Architect | 360 Architecture CJMW Architecture |
| Structural engineer | City Structures D&P, Inc.[4] |
| General contractor | Samet Construction[2] |
| Tenants | |
| Winston-Salem Dash (CL) (2010–present) | |
The ballpark is bounded by Peters Creek Parkway (northwest/west); 1st Street (north); and Green Street (northeast, left-center field). Business I-40 is toward the south/southeast.
History
It was originally planned to open for the 2009 season. Various delays pushed it to mid-2009, and then to the 2010 season. Oversights such as the budget, by city planners, were reported to be the cause.[5]
The first home game was played on April 13, 2010, against the Potomac Nationals, resulting in a 5-4 loss in 12 innings, before 7,111 spectators.[6] At the end of its first season, the stadium was named Ballpark of the Year by Baseballparks.com.[7]
Naming rights
On February 24, 2010, the Dash announced that Winston-Salem based bank BB&T had signed a 15-year naming rights deal for the new ballpark. BB&T also owned the naming rights for fellow Winston-Salem Entertainment-Sports Complex venue BB&T Field, home to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team.[8]
This was the second ballpark in the Carolina League sponsored by BB&T. The first was BB&T Coastal Field (now TicketReturn.com Field at Pelicans Ballpark), home to the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. BB&T also sponsored BB&T Ballpark (now Truist Field) for the Charlotte Knights which opened in the spring of 2014.[9]
The ballpark was renamed Truist Stadium in June 2020 due to the 2019 merger of BB&T and SunTrust Banks to form Truist.[10]
References
- "BB&T Ballpark". Ballpark Digest. April 10, 2010. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
- "Building for the Future: Minor League Stadiums". SportsBusiness Journal. April 19, 2009. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
- Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved January 1, 2020.
- "BB&T Ballpark". City Structures D&P, Inc. Retrieved September 24, 2011.
- Graff, Laura (May 6, 2009). "Extra Innings, and Still No Winner - Sources: Ballpark Not Likely to Open This Year". Winston-Salem Journal. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
- "Nats Take BB&T Ballpark Opener with 5-4 Win". Minor League Baseball. April 14, 2010. Retrieved April 18, 2010.
- Mock, Joe (August 28, 2010). "BB&T Ballpark Definitely Worth the Wait". Baseball Parks. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
- Carver, Richard (February 24, 2010). "Spreading the name: BB&T Sees Benefit in Affixing Bank's Name to Stadiums Here and Elsewhere". Winston-Salem Journal. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
- "Groundbreaking for New Knights Ballpark Set for Sept. 14". Ballpark Digest. August 24, 2012. Retrieved September 6, 2012.
- Brasier, John (June 18, 2020). "Dash stadium has new name to reflect BB&T merger". Triad Business Journal. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
