Are Retro Ballparks a Thing of the Past?

Twenty years ago, Oriole Park at Camden Yards began a revolution in baseball stadium design when it opened in downtown Baltimore. Two decades onward, Mark Byrnes asks if the retro ballpark movement is officially over.

April 2, 2012, 9am PDT | Jonathan Nettler | @nettsj

When it opened in 1992, Oriole Park at Camden Yards, designed by HOK Sport, was novel in its throwback quirks. "With a 19th century warehouse for a backdrop, a pedestrian walkway that respects the pre-existing street grid, and exposed, dark green painted steel beams, Camden Yards instantly became the model for the perfect urban ballpark," notes Byrnes.

With clubs across the country clamoring for new digs after decades of moribund ballpark construction, Oriole Park's successes spawned at least a dozen imitators. Byrne sees Citi Field in New York, home to the Mets, which opened in 2009, as the last of the retro-classic ballparks.

In its place, and represented by the newest sign of changing tastes opening on Wednesday in Miami, are modern stadiums that take their design cue from contemporary trends and embrace progressive, less familiar, forms.

With the retro craze seemingly coming to a close, Byrnes presents a slide show of every new stadium to debut since 1992, many of which were strongly influenced by Camden Yards.

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Is the Retro Ballpark Movement Officially Over?

Published on Friday, March 30, 2012 in The Atlantic Cities