First Horizon Park - Nashville Sounds

Nashville Sounds

First Horizon Park 19 Junior Gilliam Way Nashville, TN 37219	Opened: 2015	Capacity: 10,000	Elevation: 411'

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First Tennessee Park Facts & Figures

Construction cost: $47 million

Was originally projected to cost $37 million to build. The ballpark's final, and higher by $10 million, price tag was announced on March 18, 2015, with additional environmental remediation, increased subcontractor pricing, cold weather issues, and upgrades to the stadium listed as the factors.

Financing: The ballpark was part of an approximately $150 million public-private partnership project that added residential and commercial development to its neighborhood. The biggest payee of the total cost was the public, as $65 million came from the city/county government authority that's generally referred to as Metro Nashville. Privately, the Nashville Sounds' investment in the project was about $50 million while San Antonio-based Embrey Development Corp. was responsible for $37 million. The combined $87 million of private investment was earmarked for the mixed-use portion of the deal (multifamily housing and retail space) with the Metro government's stake used specifically for the ballpark's construction and land acquisition costs, for which $65 million in revenue bonds were issued.

Architects: Populous was the design architect but Nashville-based Hastings Architecture Associates is the architect of record

Construction manager: a joint venture of Barton Malow, Bell and Harmony

Ceremonial groundbreaking occurred on January 27, 2014. Among the attendees was Albert Pujols, who happened to be in Nashville to promote his charitable foundation.

Occupies 10.8 acres in an area north of downtown Nashville.

Was built on the site of a former professional ballpark, the uniquely named Sulphur Dell, which hosted baseball on its grounds from 1870 through 1963 and was demolished in 1969. The Sulphur Dell site had been home to a parking lot for employees of the state of Tennessee prior to returning to its baseball roots.

Owned by the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County.

Lease length/terms: 30 years (through the 2045 season); the Nashville Sounds pay $700,000 in annual rent. The team operates and manages the ballpark. The Sounds are responsible for routine maintenance costs and the owner of the ballpark (the local government) is liable for major capital needs.

Naming rights: First Tennessee Bank, which is based in Memphis, pays an undisclosed amount, with all of the proceeds going to the Nashville Sounds. The name First Tennessee Park was announced on April 22, 2014. The initial length of the deal between the bank and team for the ballpark's name is 10 years, and then First Tennessee has options to extend their sponsorship agreement for up to another 10 years.

Was referred to as "Nashville Ballpark at Sulphur Dell" on the signage that surrounded the site during the ballpark's construction, and the name on those signs remained unchanged even after naming rights were sold.

The ballpark's original address was 401 Jackson Street, but that didn't last long. On May 21, 2015, which was just 34 days after First Tennessee Park opened, the street address was officially changed by an ordinance to 19 Junior Gilliam Way to honor Nashville native Jim "Junior" Gilliam, who wore number 19 during a 14-year major league career with the Dodgers, with whom he won the National League Rookie of the Year award in 1953. Following his death in 1978, Gilliam's number became the fifth ever to be retired by the Dodgers. The street address in Nashville that includes it was formally dedicated in a pregame ceremony on July 28, 2015.

The playing field is 17 feet below street level.

Has 18 suites in the club (upper) level and four suites at field level. The Field Suites are directly behind home plate and each has a capacity of 40 people between its indoor, outdoor patio and stadium seating areas. The club level suites on each baseline have a seating capacity of 16.

Replaced Greer Stadium as the home of the Sounds, who drew 14,453,823 fans from 1978 through 2014, which was the length of the team's tenure at what was the Pacific Coast League's second oldest stadium in its final season. Greer Stadium still stands, and is 2.8 miles south of First Tennessee Park.

Ballpark Firsts

First game: April 17, 2015; the Nashville Sounds beat the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, 3-2 in 10 innings, with 10,459 as the announced attendance. The game was played in 3 hours and 16 minutes.

Ceremonial first pitch: Karl Dean, Nashville Mayor

Official ballpark firsts (all of which occurred on 4/17/15, unless noted):

Pitch Batter Hit (single) Home Run (4/21) Winning Pitcher Losing Pitcher Save (4/18)

Arnold Leon Matt Long Matt Clark Joey Wendle Ryan Cook David Goforth Corey Knebel

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