Veterans Memorial Stadium
Cedar Rapids, IA
Review by Mike
Veterans Memorial Stadium is the home of the Cedar Rapids Kernels the Midwest League. Rain spoiled my visit to Cedar Rapids, but fortunately I was able to get inside the ballpark to take some pictures, because I can't say when I'll be passing through Iowa again.
The new Veterans Memorial Stadium replaced a like-named ballpark in 2002. The site of the old park is now the parking lot on the 3rd base side of the new stadium. From the outside, it's not much to look at, but this may be accounted for by the fact that it had just opened a few weeks prior to my visit and the landscaping was not complete.
Inside, it's quite an impressive park. Bright red seats in a grandstand that is very close to the field give the place an intimate feel. The roof that extends up and away from the luxury boxes is a real nice touch. I imagine it generates good shade on sunny days, but it is completely ineffectual at keeping the fans dry. The wide, open concourse under the skyboxes is the place for that. I like the fact that the seating bowl is not cut horizontally by an aisle, whose only purpose in other parks seems to be to allow kids to run around and annoy other fans.
The view from the "upper deck" that extends out a little way from the end of the skyboxes is very nice, although I don't know if mere mortals are allowed to go there during the game. This is a very nice looking ballpark. I wish I'd had a chance to actually see the game. My rain check doesn't do me much good from 1000 miles away.
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2002
60
