Nelson W. Wolff Municipal Stadium
Nelson W. Wolff Municipal Stadium (informally Wolff Stadium) is a stadium in San Antonio, Texas, United States. It is primarily used for baseball, and is the home field of the San Antonio Missions Minor League Baseball team of the Double-A Texas League. The UTSA Roadrunners baseball team also plays some home games at the stadium. The stadium is named for Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, who is a former Texas legislator and San Antonio councilman and mayor.
The Wolff | |
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| Former names | San Antonio Municipal Stadium (1994–1995)[1] |
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| Location | 5757 West US Highway 90 San Antonio, Texas United States |
| Coordinates | 29°24′32.87″N 98°36′4.01″W |
| Owner | City of San Antonio |
| Operator | Elmore Sports Group |
| Capacity | 9,200 |
| Field size | Left field: 310 feet (94 m) Center field: 402 feet (123 m) Right field: 340 feet (100 m) |
| Surface | Grass |
| Scoreboard | 16 by 22 ft (4.9 by 6.7 m) LED video screen |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | September 5, 1993[2] |
| Opened | April 18, 1994 |
| Construction cost | $10.5 million[1] ($18.1 million in 2019 dollars[3]) |
| Architect | HOK Sport Ford, Powell & Carson |
| Services engineer | Jasmine Engineering, Inc.[4] |
| General contractor | Lyda/Bartlett Cocke |
| Tenants | |
| San Antonio Missions (TL/PCL) 1994–present | |
The Wolff is located about 8 miles (13 km) to the west of Downtown San Antonio. It was opened on April 18, 1994, (as the San Antonio Municipal Stadium) and has 6,200 fixed seats and a grass berm in left field that can seat about 3,000. The stadium features 14 luxury suites, a 500-person picnic area down the right field line, and an all-you-can-eat-and-drink fiesta deck that can be rented for groups of 25 to 200 people. The dimensions (from home plate to the outfield wall) are: 310 feet (94 m) to left field, 402 feet (123 m) to center field, and 340 feet (100 m) to right field.
Features
Viewing the stadium from the outside entrance (behind home plate) there are two large brick bell towers, in keeping with a southwestern theme, and echoing an architectural feature of the old Mission Stadium. Shaded seating in the stadium can be found in the Infield Reserved section 200-208 in the back 6 rows. There are no poles to impede views as seen in some older minor league parks. A concourse wraps around the playing field and provides spectators varied views of the game and stadium.
The section behind home plate has individual seats; the left and right field seating areas, however, are entirely made up of bleachers.
Planes can often be seen flying into and out of Lackland Air Force Base behind the outfield wall. The Missions regularly have "Military Night", inviting recently graduated troops to Friday night games.
Notable events
On July 7, 1997, the ballpark hosted the Double-A All-Star Game in which a team of American League-affiliated All-Stars defeated a team of National League-affiliated All-Stars, 4–0, before 7,114 people in attendance.[5]
Wolff Stadium hosted the 2011 Texas League All-Star Game.[6]
The third annual Mala Luna Music Festival was held from October 27–28, 2018, in the parking lot outside of the stadium.
Stadium upgrades
Following the 2006 season, the City of San Antonio voted 9–0 to a revised lease of Wolff Stadium. The San Antonio Missions took control of the stadium with plans to invest $1.2 million to improving the concession areas, create a fiesta deck in left field, improve the sound system, install an LED scoreboard to replace the scoreboard in right field, and repaint.[7] In addition, the City invested $300,000 for new lighting.[7]
The lease also calls for the Missions to spend the next 10 years in the stadium. There are three options of five years each as well.[7]
References
- Knight, Graham. "Nelson W. Wolff Municipal Stadium". Baseball Pilgrimages. Retrieved September 18, 2011.
- Michael Point (April 6, 1995). "Opening night arrives for popular Missions". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved November 6, 2011.
- Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved January 1, 2020.
- "Wolff Municipal Baseball Stadium". Jasmine Engineering, Inc. Archived from the original on April 14, 2004. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
- "American Double A All-Stars Win". Hartford Courant. Hartford. July 8, 1997. p. C4 – via Newspapers.com.
- Whisler, John (June 30, 2011). "Darnell Leads South to All-Star Victory". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
- "Missions Get Revised Lease". Minor League Baseball. November 16, 2006. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
