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U.S. Cellular Field

After 80 years at one ballpark, the White Sox became the first team to open a new ballpark in the 1990s. With an aging Comiskey Park, the White Sox wanted a new facility. In the mid to late 1980s, talk began on building a new stadium. Planners spent the better part of the 1980s studying every baseball stadium to get the best ideas for a new ballpark. The study also gave architects and contractors a guide as what not to include in the stadium. After Illinois voters rejecting building a new stadium, the White Sox began to make threats of moving the team to Tampa, Florida.

After deciding on a location to build the new ballpark, new to old Comiskey Park, construction began May 7, 1989. Built of a concrete structure with a pre-cast concrete facing, the new stadium rose much higher than its neighbor, old Comiskey Park. It took just two years for the new ballpark to be completed. Originally, it was given the same name as its predecessor, Comiskey Park. However in January 2003, U.S. Cellular purchased the naming rights for 68 million dollars over 23 years in order to name the stadium U.S. Cellular Field.

Opening day came on April 18, 1991, when Governor Thompson threw the ceremonial first pitch. Over 44,000 fans filled U.S. Cellular Field's blue seats that day. Only one thing was transferred from old Comiskey Park to U.S. Cellular Field, the dirt from the infield. Comiskey Park was praised when it opened, but that soon changed. Once Oriole Park at Camdem Yards opened people wondered why U.S. Cellular Field did not have the traditional nostalgic appearance. The ballpark was also criticized because the steepness of the upper deck.

Today fans from all over Chicago travel to US Cellular Field to watch the White Sox play. Numerous parking lots surround the stadium and the CTA red line train makes a stop at Sox/35th, providing public transportation to the stadium. Once inside US Cellular Field, fans must go up either ramps or escalators to access any of the four main levels of the stadium. Throughout the 2005 season and by the start of the 2006 season, fans will notice a gradual change as the blue seats are replaced by green ones. For the first time since 1959 White Sox fans saw World Series baseball played on the south side as the team won the 2005 World Series.

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