FirstEnergy Park

FirstEnergy Park is a stadium in Lakewood, New Jersey. It is primarily used for baseball and is the home field of the Jersey Shore BlueClaws single A minor league baseball team, affiliated with the Philadelphia Phillies Major League Baseball team. It is also used for outdoor concerts, featuring touring musical artists such as Bob Dylan. It was built in 2001 and has 6,588 seats and seats 8,000 with berm seating.[8]

Not to be confused with FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio, or FirstEnergy Stadium in Reading, Pennsylvania. For other uses, see FirstEnergy Stadium (disambiguation).
FirstEnergy Park
Former namesGPU Energy Park (2001)
Location2 Stadium Way
Lakewood, NJ 08701
Coordinates40°4′31″N 74°11′12″W
OwnerLakewood Development Corporation
OperatorLakewood Development Corporation[1]
Capacity8,000
Field sizeLeft: 325 ft (99 m)
Center: 400 ft (120 m)
Right: 325 ft (99 m)
SurfaceGrass
Construction
Broke groundApril 17, 2000[2]
OpenedApril 6, 2001 (2001-04-06)[3]
Construction cost$20 million[1]
($27.8 million in 2019 dollars[4])
ArchitectHNTB
Project managerHill International[5]
Services engineerHenderson Engineers, Inc.[6]
General contractorEpic Group, Inc.[7]
Tenants
Jersey Shore BlueClaws (SAL) 2002–present

History

The stadium opened as GPU Energy Park, named for the former General Public Utilities, Inc. After GPU merged into FirstEnergy Corporation in 2001, the stadium took the new corporate name in 2002.[9]

The team attendance record is 13,003, set on August 26, 2002.[10] FirstEnergy Park had 13 crowds over 9,000 and 81 crowds over 8,000 in its first eight years of play.

FirstEnergy Park was featured in Baseball America's 2009 Great Parks calendar.[11] It was the second time that the home of the BlueClaws was highlighted in the calendar.

FirstEnergy Park has hosted the South Atlantic League All-Star Game twice, in 2002 and in 2013. The 2002 attendance of 8,571 was a record for the South Atlantic League All-Star Game.[12]

Features

The ballpark features two general admission, grass seating areas, one in left field and another in right, 20 luxury suites, two party decks, three picnic areas, and a full video scoreboard, with a 23' x 23' video board that can play over 4.4 trillion shades of color in high definition.[13]

References
  1. "Coming Attractions". SportsBusiness Journal. May 8, 2000. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
  2. Shamlin, Wilford S. (April 18, 2000). "Lakewood Builds It; Hopes Fans Will Come". Asbury Park Press. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  3. "Claws' Comeback Falls Short". Asbury Park Press. April 7, 2001. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  4. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  5. "Sports Facilities". Hill International. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  6. "Sports/Recreation". Henderson Engineers, Inc. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  7. "GPU Energy Park". Epic Group, Inc. Archived from the original on February 5, 2005. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  8. "BlueClaws Cap Crowds at 8,000". Minor League Baseball. March 5, 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
  9. White, Mike (April 11, 2002). "Local baseball fans enjoy atmosphere at ballpark". Tri-Town News. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  10. Cichalski, Dan (August 27, 2002). "Claws Close a Banner Year". Asbury Park Press. p. A1. Archived from the original on May 31, 2014. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  11. Hill, Benjamin (February 12, 2009). "At Home With the BlueClaws". Minor League Baseball. Retrieved June 10, 2010.
  12. Hemlin, Ilya (June 21, 2012). "Lakewood BlueClaws Host 2013 South Atlantic League All Star Game". WOBM-FM. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
  13. Merzbach, Brian. "FirstEnergy Park Lakewood, New Jersey". Ballpark Reviews. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
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