Hometown fans and visitors to Atlanta enjoy taking in a Braves baseball game at Turner Field in downtown Atlanta. But the National League ball club is not the only draw. The home of the Braves is an attraction in its own right. The Atlanta landmark has the look of an older ball park, but is equipped with state of the art technology and conveniences.
The Braves had previously played in Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium since 1966. By the mid 1990s the team wanted a newer, more modern stadium, and Atlanta needed a stadium that would be suitable as an Olympic venue for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. The team and the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games combined their efforts to build a new facility across the street from the old stadium. The new Centennial Olympic Stadium, built with private financing for the Olympics, was designed to host the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, and the Olympic Track and Field Events. It had some temporary bleachers at one end that were taken down after the Olympics were over. The new stadium was then completed for the Braves. Turner Field opened on March 29, 1997. The old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium was torn down, and the site is now the parking lot for Turner Field.
Guided tours of the stadium are offered year round and begin at the Braves Museum. Tours take approximately one hour and feature visits to the broadcast booth, the club house, the dugouts, the press box, and the Braves Hall of Fame. Turner Field seats 49,000 fans on three levels. The upper level seats have a view of the Atlanta skyline. The outer plaza, called Monument Grove, contains statues of baseball greats Hank Aaron, Phil Neikro, and Ty Cobb. The Chop House Restaurant is located in the main entry plaza. The Coke Skyfield, on the upper level overlooking left field, has games for kids and a mister area for fans to cool off on hot days at the ballpark. The Club House Store features a wide variety of official Atlanta Braves merchandise.
Fans can keep track of the action from the more than 500 television monitors throughout Turner Field. The giant Braves Vision video board is located in center field, and the Plaza Vision board is in Fan Plaza. In addition to showing Braves action, these video boards also show the latest scores from around the league.
Turner Field was named after Ted Turner, who was the Braves owner at the time the stadium was built. The street in front of the stadium was renamed Hank Aaron Drive to honor the Braves great home run hitter. The street number of the stadium is #755, which was the number of home runs that Aaron hit in his career. Turner Field was the site of the 2000 MLB All Star Game. When visiting Atlanta, take in a Braves baseball game at Turner Field. Even if the Braves are not in town, visitors can still enjoy a tour of one of baseball’s best ballparks.