Friday night, 15,000 people crammed into AutoZone Park to watchthe Redbirds play an exhibition game against the St. LouisCardinals. It was a major league baseball atmosphere in a majorleague-quality ballpark.
"With all the buildings in the background, it reminds me ofMinute Maid Park (the Houston Astros' park)," said freshmancommunications major Christen Clayton, a Houston native. "I thinkit's a really good and well-maintained field. I thought it wasreally nice."
Appearance aside, four years after "play ball" was first utteredon the field, AutoZone Park continues to impact Memphis in avariety of ways.
Almost 750,000 people flocked to AutoZone Park in 2003 to seethe Memphis Redbirds play, many from areas outside of greaterMemphis. Those figures placed the Redbirds as the secondmost-watched minor league team in America.
Even more impressive, the Redbirds enjoyed their turnstilessuccess without the benefit of quality team performance. TheRedbirds finished 64-79, the second-worst record in the 16-teamPacific Coast League.
But poor records have not deterred fans. Since the park openedin 2000, the Redbirds have finished in the top two in PCLattendance every year, averaging at least 11,000 per game. Many ofthose fans come from out of town or even out of state.
Visitors bring their dollars with them when they visit theballpark, and local businesses are the main beneficiaries.
"We get a lot of families that come in and stay overnight afterRedbirds games, especially on the weekends," said Kristen Sandler,an employee at the Best Western Benchmark Hotel across the streetfrom AutoZone Park.
It is not surprising that hotels in the area reap the benefitsof Redbirds games. According to a report by the Bureau of Sportsand Leisure Commerce at The University of Memphis, 74.4 percent ofnon-season ticket holders that venture to the park come fromoutside the city limits. Visitors from Millington (19.9) andJonesboro, Ark. (8.9) make up the largest percentages.
Eating establishments also benefit greatly from the park,including Denny's on the corner of Third and Union.
"After the game, everyone comes in here to eat. It gets prettywild," said Denny's hostess Brittany Lees.
Lees said the staff doubles on game nights because of post-gamepatrons.
But the economic power of the park isn't limited to where fansspend their money after the game. Even the money spent at thestadium stays in the community.
The park is owned and operated by the Memphis Redbirds BaseballFoundation, a nonprofit enterprise that is the only one of its kindin professional sports. More than 90 percent of the buildingproject was funded privately. A $72.2 million bond issue is beingrepaid from revenue generated at the park. Once the bonds are paidoff, every penny spent at Redbirds games will go directly to thefoundation, which funds two youth programs. Among other things, theprograms have reinstated baseball to the city's middle schools,where the sport was a casualty of budget cuts in 1992.
The $80 million stadium was constructed by local firm KissArchitects under the supervision of the Kansas City-basedarchitectural firm HOK Sports, which has designed more major leagueparks than any other firm in the nation. Despite the team'sstruggles in recent years, the 14,230-seat stadium is full of bellsand whistles that consistently draw fans.
"We have a lot for the entertainment dollar," said RedbirdsAssistant General Manager Steele Ford. "People love the music, lovethe food and love the facility. We're able to bring in peoplebeyond the typical baseball fan."
Just a few years ago, bringing anybody, let alone 15,000 people,to the corner of Third and Union would have been difficult, andMemphis native and junior finance major Derek Givens knows it.
"It's had a decent impact -- it cleaned the place up," Givenssaid. "I think it (the area) was pretty ragged (before the parkopened)."
Brad Elmer, planning and development coordinator for the MemphisCenter City Commission, agrees.
"Before the park was built, there was a hodge-podge of uses,none of which would be considered desirable," Elmer said.
Before construction began, the area surrounding the ballparkincluded a pornographic movie theatre, a parking lot and somewarehouses. Now, the area boasts an exclusive residentialdevelopment, known as Echelon at the Ballpark; the renovated ToyotaCenter, which features fine dining, office space and a walkway tothe stadium; and a parking garage.
Yet for all the positives AutoZone Park represents, there areconsequences to be paid for its popularity. Traffic jams and otherminor problems abound.
"After a game, it takes about 30 minutes for traffic to clear,"Downtown Precinct officer Roshawnda Scott said. "It takes threeofficers on every corner to make things go smoothly."
While ballpark goers must always brave the traffic, more seriousproblems occasionally occur. Downtown Precinct officer TaderioHolmes said various violations often take place as vehicles streamout of the downtown area.
"Drunk driving does go on after games," Holmes said. "It's not abig problem, but people leave the game after drinking beer and getin their cars."
The most frequent occurrence after Redbirds games are minortraffic violations, due in large part to drivers' impatience.
"We give traffic citations to a lot of irate people," Holmessaid. "They're impatient because of all the waiting."
Overall, the officers said they rarely run into any trouble ongame nights, and they don't notice higher incidents of crime due tothe large crowds. And for whatever problems they do run into, Scottand Holmes agree the good far outweighs the bad.
"It is definitely a good thing to have that park down here,"Scott said.
Former Redbirds media relations employee Jason Piskurich took ita step further.
"Except for Beale Street, the downtown area 10 years ago was aplace no one wanted to go," Piskurich said. "Once the ballpark wasbuilt, people got excited about coming downtown again. It gavefamilies something to come down for.
"Life was breathed back into the community."
