History
The need for New Britain Stadium grew out of a new set of ballpark standards issued by the National Association of Professional Baseball Clubs in the early 1990s. Due to the growing popularity of minor league baseball, and the wide variety of facilities that were in use at the time, that governing body thought it best to establish consistency and minimum standards for such things as dugouts, locker rooms, press boxes, seating capacity, etc., across all the minor leagues. On a case-by-case basis, franchises were given certain time periods in which to achieve compliance.
At this time, the Rock Cats were still playing at Beehive Field, which—despite some recent improvements—still fell far short of meeting the league minimums. A big hangup was the seating capacity, which was about 2,000 shy of the new requirement of 6,000 to support a double-A franchise. The estimate was that bringing Beehive Field into compliance would have cost at least $2–3 million, and this was also at a time when other brand-new stadiums were being constructed around the Eastern League. Rock Cats owner Joe Buzas was also faced with pressure from the Boston Red Sox organization (which was the team's major-league affiliate at the time) to move the team closer to the heart of Red Sox Nation-- preferably Springfield, Massachusetts. Eventually in August 1994, after receiving pledges of financial support from the City of New Britain, Connecticut governor Lowell Weicker, and New Britain's largest employer, Stanley Works, Buzas announced that he would keep the team in the city and begin construction of a new ballpark.
Groundbreaking occurred on June 1, 1995, and construction moved quickly while the Rock Cats played out their last season at Beehive Field located right next door. New Britain-based Kaestle-Boos, Inc., was selected as the architect, and the Brunoli Construction Company of Avon was chosen as general contractor. The new stadium was built from scratch in less than 11 months. Obstacles along the way included the need to move New Britain High School's baseball and softball fields (also located next door; those teams now use the still-standing Beehive Field); environmental issues including redirecting the flow of a nearby stream; and jurisdictional conflicts, since part of the stadium grounds is actually located in the town of Berlin. Nonetheless, a wildly successful Opening Day was held on April 12, 1996-- successful except for the fact that the Rock Cats were shut out by the New Haven Ravens, 3-0. They got their first win the next day, returning the shutout over the Ravens, 7-0.
As an epilogue to the stadium negotiations, Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette announced in September 1994—less than a month after Buzas' decision to stay in New Britain—that the Red Sox were pulling their affiliation and moving to Trenton, New Jersey. The result was the Rock Cats' current development agreement with the Minnesota Twins.
Buzas is honored with a plaque at New Britain Stadium, "in grateful appreciation for bringing minor league baseball to New Britain in 1983".
Note: Most of this history taken from a 10th-anniversary stadium feature in the 2005 Rock Cats game program.
Read more about this topic: New Britain Stadium
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