Coolray Field (formerly Gwinnett Stadium) – page 2

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The Essentials

So you’re all excited to see Triple-A baseball in Georgia for the first time since the Atlanta Crackers were in the International League in 1965. What’s it like attending a Gwinnett Braves game?

First, we’ve already noted that traffic on weekday evenings will be brutal heading up I-85 toward the park. The going will also be thick with cars on the one-mile stretch from the interchange on the Interstate down Buford Drive, since that’s the way most fans will head to the stadium.

Once there, you’ll find adequate parking adjacent to the park for $3.

Ticket prices aren’t very different than at 2009’s other two new Triple-A parks. While the premium seats right behind the home dugout and the backstop are sold only on a season-ticket basis, the other boxes between the bases are $15 at all three new parks — although Columbus charges $12 for these seats when purchased in advance. Reserved seats farther down the baselines are $12 in both Reno and Gwinnett, and $10 in Columbus. Gwinnett Stadium also has five sections near the foul poles (extreme right of photo above) that sell for only $8, $6 for youths and seniors. General admission ducats are $6, with youths and seniors paying a dollar less.

If you like to avoid the sun, the seats on the first-base side will be in shade for an evening game slightly sooner than on the third-base side.

The food offerings are probably on a par with Reno, but fall short of the ridiculously diverse and high-quality assortment of food items in Columbus. Among the G-Braves’ most noteworthy offerings are regular hot dogs for $3.50, footlongs for $6, BBQ sandwiches (pork, chicken or brisket) for $5.50 and “top your dog” specialties for $6. These include Chicago-, New York- and Southwest-style toppings, and one called a “Georgia Dog” that features cole slaw, Vidalia onions and relish. There’s a stand with Mexican behind third base and you’ll find a special kids menu out at the stand called The Berm behind (you guessed it) the berm.

For those of you who like familiar chains at ballparks, you’ll be pleased that Edy’s has an ice-cream stand and Chick-fil-A is serving chicken sandwiches ($4.50) as only they can.

Domestic draft beers are $5, and “premium” drafts are $6.50 at the stands that even offer beer, which not all do.

There’s also a sit-down eatery on the first-base side called Niekro’s (if I have to tell you for whom this is named, then you obviously don’t know a lot about the Atlanta Braves). In addition to a salad with chicken ($6), pizza ($4.75 a slice), nachos ($6) and “spicy hot” wings ($8), you’ll find perhaps the signature food item at this ballpark. It’s called The Knucksie (again, if this doesn’t ring a bell, please study your Braves history), and for $9 you get a warm corn muffin piled high with pork BBQ, pickle chips, caramelized onions and cole slaw. Oh, and they pour two kinds of BBQ sauce over it. Next time I come to Gwinnett County, one of those has my name on it.

The souvenir shop is more than adequate, although it could’ve been arranged in a more efficient way. Here you’ll find a healthy assortment of kids apparel (although it’s not all in the same place) and reasonable prices throughout. For example, most adult T-shirts are $20 and my favorite souvenir, lapel pins, are only $5.

The scoreboard (below left) is made up of a top-notch video screen that is 40 feet tall. Not only do you get a high-res photo of the batter, the standard game info (linescore, batter’s stats, etc.) really jumps off the screen.

I’m not entirely sure why, but the inflatables for kids are in two different places — in foul territory near the left-field foul pole (below right) and in fair territory near the right-field foul pole. There’s also a designated birthday-party area far, far beyond center field. No chance of a well-launched home-run ball plopping into the birthday cake here!

I was a little troubled by the stadium’s PA system, though. The treble and mid-range sounds were crisp, but the bass sounds were awful. This might’ve been corrected following the stadium’s opening night.

But if muddy bass notes is the worst I can say about the game-day experience at a G-Braves game, then you can be assured of having a very good time!

Summary

So the commercial development hadn’t arrived prior to the park’s opening, and the area beyond the outfield is, shall we say, not all that it could be.

But that notwithstanding, this is certainly a solid effort — and one that will probably improve over time, especially as new stores, restaurants and bars open next door to the ballpark.

Does it have a “rushed” feel, like the fans would’ve been better served for the planning and construction to have taken an extra year? Hardly. The architects and construction firm might’ve gotten at least a little bit of sleep while the park was being built if that had been the case, but fans in the Atlanta area now have a functional, fun facility in which to watch the top minor-league talent of their Braves. And the park, after all, is for them, and I think it will serve those fans very well.

And if you’re crazy enough to attempt a day-night double-header with the G-Braves and the A-Braves in the same day (like I and my ballpark buddies are inclined to do whenever possible), Gwinnett Stadium and Turner Field are only 36 miles apart …