The University of Florida has opened a new baseball park on its Gainesville campus.
The $65 million Florida Ballpark at Alfred A. McKethan Field replaces McKethan Stadium, which opened in 1949 and hosted its last game in 2020.
The Florida Gators baseball team inaugurated the new park on Feb. 19 with a win over the University of Miami.
Populous, the architecture firm that designed the facility, says the ballpark’s collegiate gothic style is inspired by the prominent architecture of the University of Florida campus. Designed with a variety of seating types and viewing areas, the ballpark provides fans with 360-degree access around the venue without losing sight of the field.
The park features a tiered seating bowl that enables fans to be closer to the action. It can accommodate 7,000 fans across 3,400 lower bowl chair backs, 800 club seats, two grass berms with capacity for 2,800 people, as well as an open concourse. The berms are down the left and right field lines and wrap around both outfield foul poles.
The facility's footprint maximizes shading throughout the seating bowl, and shade canopies wrap the lower and upper seating bowl. Ceiling fans throughout the concourse also protect guests and staff from the hot Florida sun.
Social areas are situated in and around the outfield give fans additional seating options in the Dizney Grove, which is situated at field level just beyond the outfield wall with views back to the field.
In addition to the fan experience, the ballpark is also the year-round home to the Florida baseball program. Training areas feature four indoor hitting cages, two indoor pitching tunnels, a full-size artificial turf infield, hydrotherapy and athletic training spaces.
A 1,400-square-foot player lounge features a Gatorade nutrition station and is situated next to the locker room, which has direct access to the field. The ballpark features some of the largest dugouts in the NCAA and has separate meeting and video rooms. The bullpens include covered bench areas for both the home and visiting teams.
