I have a facilities question...or construction question may be a better way to put it.

[TerryP 1]

Context:

In a conversation about the park in Hoover, distances to the power alley's, etc., I started looking over different parks around the SEC.

There were two that stood out to me; Vandy's and Auburn's. It was the design that caught my eye. All of those in the SEC are symetrical except those two parks.

It made me wonder why so hence this thread.

By the arial view at the bottom you can see the left field fence has an unusual shape. It leads me to these questions.

1) It looks like the equipment outside of left field is electrical. Is that a power station? I've never noticed what was there nor have I attended a baseball game at your field.

2) If so, why? This is sort of several questions looped together. I assume, and their really can't be another reason, that the park was constructed after the power stations were put in place. In construction projects I've witnessed I've seen a lot of things moved to accomodate new construction. Electical stations, water and sewer lines, etc.

I'm wondering why those weren't moved. It seems, again based on the picture, it could have been placed in very close proximity without entailing a lot of extra cost in the project. Was the left field fence put in place before moving electrical facilities underground?

What's the history/story behind this?

Just for a FWIW picture...here's Vandy's as well. I don't know what the story is here either. But, plan to find out.

[AU64 10,122]

Someone else can give the history but personally I like the non-symmetrical fields like Boston, Baltimore, Yankee Stadium, .....and the AU field. A number of the MLB parks are symmetrical but the trend seems to be toward unique designs and some of the old cookie-cutter parks from the 1970s have been re-styled or replaced.

[Mikey 16,717]

What I heard at the time was it (Auburn's) was designed that way to incorporate similarity to Baltimore's Camden Yards. Thus, the outfield fence was done that way on purpose, not to accommodate the electrical facility.

[auclong 1]

Beyond our outfield fences are an electrical power substation; chilling towers for the HVAC system and a nuclear science center(Leach Science Center). The costs to move any of this would be prohibitive plus Auburn fans like the setup and layout of our field. Most of these facilities have been here since at least the mid 60`s.

[TerryP 1]

Beyond our outfield fences are an electrical power substation; chilling towers for the HVAC system and a nuclear science center(Leach Science Center). The costs to move any of this would be prohibitive plus Auburn fans like the setup and layout of our field. Most of these facilities have been here since at least the mid 60`s.

Leach has been there since the 60's? So, the system was put there for Leach, then the baseball facility was contstructed afterwards?

Am I reading that right?

[PowerOfDixieland 3,226]

Plainsman Park was built in the early 50's. The chillers don't come into play, the power sub-station does. Before the big wall was installed it was a chain link fence that was a little further out, and there were more than a few broken car windows tallied in those days. That fence is not ridiculously short at 315', but compared to the Hoover Met (345') it is.

Vandy's baseball field is crammed in between their football field and basketball gym. That brick facade down the left field line is part of Memorial Gym.

[TerryP 1]

Plainsman Park was built in the early 50's. The chillers don't come into play, the power sub-station does. Before the big wall was installed it was a chain link fence that was a little further out, and there were more than a few broken car windows tallied in those days. That fence is not ridiculously short at 315', but compared to the Hoover Met (345') it is.

Vandy's baseball field is crammed in between their football field and basketball gym. That brick facade down the left field line is part of Memorial Gym.

Thanks.

That falls in line with what I was assuming, but didn't want to make the assumption. The idea of moving power substations back in those days? I suspect there wasn't a such thing as anything underground. (Curiousity makes me wonder what the cost of moving such a structure would be—not that I'm saying it should be done. It's a unique layout.)

Vandy's field I've looked at up close, purposefully. Yours I had not. Heck, I've never attended a baseball game in Auburn.

[cptau 169]

Moving an electric power substation would not be cheap. If Alabama Power is involved, they would charge dearly to move that power equipment as they usually own the property or have a right of way agreement in their favor.

However, the area behind Auburn's "green wall" looks to be mostly for covered storage. So the wall could have been moved out 15 feet or more easily, but you'd lose the green wall effect.

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

Moving an electric power substation would not be cheap. If Alabama Power is involved, they would charge dearly to move that power equipment as they usually own the property or have a right of way agreement in their favor.

However, the area behind Auburn's "green wall" looks to be mostly for covered storage. So the wall could have been moved out 15 feet or more easily, but you'd lose the green wall effect.

Actually that covered area just behind the wall is Auburn's bullpen and batting cage.

[AU64 10,122]

The left field wall is just fine IMO...a number of MLB parks with similar length...it's the power alleys that are short ....and center field perhaps...but with the dead bat, there is no reason to push any wall further out. It's a neat looking park and was one of the first of the renovations in the SEC when done....though a number of schools have now enlarged their parks and modernized.

[TerryP 1]

The left field wall is just fine IMO...a number of MLB parks with similar length...it's the power alleys that are short ....and center field perhaps...but with the dead bat, there is no reason to push any wall further out. It's a neat looking park and was one of the first of the renovations in the SEC when done....though a number of schools have now enlarged their parks and modernized.

And likely are questioning the move with the new bats.

Having an "anomoly" in a park isn't a bad thing. Take Vandy's as example. A ball hit there is a stand-up double at the least.

One thing for certain. It does give a home field advantage in terms of fielding and there's never anything wrong with that.

'preciate the responses here guys!

[cptau 169]

Moving an electric power substation would not be cheap. If Alabama Power is involved, they would charge dearly to move that power equipment as they usually own the property or have a right of way agreement in their favor.

However, the area behind Auburn's "green wall" looks to be mostly for covered storage. So the wall could have been moved out 15 feet or more easily, but you'd lose the green wall effect.

Actually that covered area just behind the wall is Auburn's bullpen and batting cage.

Then they had options, they just wanted the wall there. The odd thing is the angle it takes going into center field.

[AU64 10,122]

Moving an electric power substation would not be cheap. If Alabama Power is involved, they would charge dearly to move that power equipment as they usually own the property or have a right of way agreement in their favor.

However, the area behind Auburn's "green wall" looks to be mostly for covered storage. So the wall could have been moved out 15 feet or more easily, but you'd lose the green wall effect.

Actually that covered area just behind the wall is Auburn's bullpen and batting cage.

Then they had options, they just wanted the wall there. The odd thing is the angle it takes going into center field.

Most major league parks have some special feature that would seem to give the home outfielders an advantage....IMO it would be interesting to do something in right center to add a little more character and provide more opportunities for triples.

[Mikey 16,717]

Yes they had options. As I noted earlier, they did this in order to put some uniqueness into the newly renovated park. The old chain-link fence was farther out and not so high.

In the chain link days you could sit on the hood of your car and watch the game from out there. Just bring a glove, or as already stated by someone else, a windshield would be broken.

[doc4aday 1,887]

what types of renovations are needed? I know at one time a while back, Plainsman Park was considered the best in the nation. Have things gotten that bad since then? With the million Tim Hudson is donating, are there any matching funds associated with this? I guess, how much overall is really needed to put us back at the top of one of the nation's top college baseball parks? We have never been the team we were since Baird/Renfro years. I thought firing Renfro was a bad move, and it has shown to be over the past decade. Make the park the best in the SEC, and hire us a coach who will be the best in the SEC in a few seasons. Do this, and Auburn Baseball will be one that other SEC teams dread to tangle with.

[AU64 10,122]

Don't know if the TH money is for a designated use but many of the complaints have been about practice facilities and player amenities. Not that long ago we had those complaints about the football practice facilities and eventually opened the new full length indoor practice field which is state of the art. I don't know what the priorities are but anything that would help hitting instruction would be money well spent. We seem to have a great playing facility and my earlier comments about the right field power alley was just an observation about dressing up the park and perhaps giving AU a little advantage now that the HR has been mostly taken out of the college game.