Medlar Field at Lubrano Park is a 5,570-seat

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

stadium in

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, that hosted its first regular season baseball game on June 20, 2006, when the State College Spikes lost to the Williamsport Crosscutters, 5–3. The

Penn State Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot is the Nittany Lion. The interco ...

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

team began play at the ballpark in 2007. Seating capacity is 5,570 people. Events other than baseball games are held at the ballpark, and different seating configurations are available. This stadium was designed to feature an unobstructed view of Penn State landmark

Mount Nittany Mount Nittany is the common name for Nittany Mountain, a prominent geographic feature in Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States. The mountain is part of a ridge that separates Nittany Valley from Penns Valley, with the enclosed Sugar Valley be ...

over the outfield wall.

History

Penn State alumnus Anthony Lubrano first suggested upgrading Penn State baseball facilities to representatives of the university in 1995. After receiving a donation from Lubrano in 2002, the Penn State Board of Trustees voted to name the new stadium Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. In 2003, representatives of the Altoona Curve management group approached Penn State with the idea of sharing a ballpark that both the Altoona Curve and the Penn State baseball team would use as a home field. Final plans for the new ballpark were approved by the Penn State Board of Trustees on May 13, 2005. Ground was broken for the new ballpark on May 18, 2005. Among the dignitaries on hand for the groundbreaking ceremony were

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

governor Ed Rendell, Penn State president

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, state Senator

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and Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley. The ballpark was named a 2006 Project of the Year in the area of sports by ''Mid-Atlantic Construction''.

Naming

Medlar Field at Lubrano Park is named for two Penn State alumni, Charles Medlar and Anthony Lubrano. Coach Charles "Chuck" Medlar (1918–1999) was an athletic trainer at Penn State for 35 years, and the head Penn State baseball coach from 1963 to 1981. The Charles Medlar Award is given annually in his honor to the outstanding pitcher of the Penn State baseball team. Anthony Lubrano is a 1982 alumnus of the Penn State

Smeal College of Business The Smeal College of Business at the Pennsylvania State University offers undergraduate, graduate, and executive education programs to more than 6,000 students.Accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), S ...

. Since graduation, Lubrano has established a successful financial services company. His donation of $2.5 million towards this project made him the lead benefactor, and Lubrano received from Penn State the opportunity to name this venue. Lubrano chose to name this venue Medlar Field at Lubrano Park in recognition of Coach Medlar's contributions to Penn State athletics.

Features

The "footprint" of the stadium (outfield dimensions, foul ground, etc.) is identical to PNC Park in

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(home of the

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) except for the right field wall. At PNC, the wall is 21 feet tall, but at Medlar Field, it is 18.55 feet tall to commemorate the year that Penn State was founded. The

physical plant Physical plant, mechanical plant or industrial plant (and where context is given, often just plant) refers to the necessary infrastructure used in operation and maintenance of a given facility. The operation of these facilities, or the department ...

of this venue includes the stadium, parking areas, and a pedestrian plaza. The stadium has three levels, Field (clubhouse) Level, Concourse Level, and Luxury Suite Level. The street level entrance to the stadium is on the Concourse Level.

Photos of the ballpark

File:Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.JPG, The ballpark shortly before opening in 2006. File:Medlar Field INSIDE.jpg, Park's infield File:ML Press Box Penn State.JPG, A view of the grandstand. File:BJC from Mt Nittany.JPG, The park as seen from

Field level

There are three clubhouses in this stadium, one for the Nittany Lions, one for the State College Spikes, and one for the visiting team. Home team facilities include a weight room and training area for each team, an indoor batting cage, storage areas, and a laundry room. Entrance into the

dugouts Dugout may refer to: * Dugout (shelter), an underground shelter * Dugout (boat), a logboat * Dugout (smoking), a marijuana container Sports * In bat-and-ball sports, a dugout is one of two areas where players of the home or opposing teams sit whe ...

and onto the playing field for players is from this level.

Concourse level

This level includes a

first aid First aid is the first and immediate assistance given to any person with either a minor or serious illness or injury, with care provided to preserve life, prevent the condition from worsening, or to promote recovery. It includes initial in ...

station, a baseball–themed store called ''Off The Rack Outfitters'', a customer service center, and

restrooms A public toilet, restroom, public bathroom or washroom is a room or small building with toilets (or urinals) and sinks for use by the general public. The facilities are available to customers, travelers, employees of a business, school pupils ...

. The State College Spikes offices are also located on this level. Amenities on the right field side of this level include the Outfield Bleachers seating area, and the Rail Kings seating area located on the ''Nittany Embroidery Fun Deck''. The food concessions in this area include ''The Right Field Grill'', '' Coaly's Corner'', and ''The Batter's Eye''. Amenities on the left field side of this level include the Left Field Picnic and a play area for children called the ''S&A Homes Kids Zone''. The food

concession stands A concession stand (American English, Canadian English), snack kiosk or snack bar (British English, Irish English) is a place where patrons can purchase snacks or food at a cinema, amusement park, zoo, aquarium, circus, fair, stadium, bea ...

in this area are ''The Left Field Grill'', ''The "Grand" Stand'', and ''The Bullpen Café''. Food including

Philly cheesesteak A cheesesteak (also known as a Philadelphia cheesesteak, Philly cheesesteak, cheesesteak sandwich, cheese steak, or steak and cheese) is a sandwich made from thinly sliced pieces of beefsteak and melted cheese in a long hoagie roll. A popular r ...

s, hot dogs, and

ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as str ...

will be sold by the concessions. Beer is sold during Spikes games, but not during Penn State games. Along with the Penn Stater Conference Center and The Nittany Lion Inn, this venue is one of only three Penn State facilities on the University Park campus where alcohol is allowed to be sold. Wheelchair–accessible seating is located on the concourse behind the Bullpen Box, Field Box, and Diamond Club seating areas. There is a wheelchair lift located in the left field picnic area, connecting the Concourse Level with the Field Level. An

elevator An elevator or lift is a wire rope, cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or deck (building), decks of a building, watercraft, ...

also connects all three levels of the stadium, making all areas accessible.

Luxury suite level

The 20

luxury suites The luxury box (or skybox) and club seating constitute the most exclusive class of seating in arenas and stadiums, and generate much higher revenues than regular seating. Club ticketholders often receive exclusive access to an indoor part of t ...

and the press box are located on this level. 18 luxury suites are designed to accommodate 20 people each, and two larger suites are designed to accommodate 40 people each. The Press Box consists of three broadcast booths for television and radio media. The Penn State Sports Journalism Center and the Penn State Baseball offices are also located on this level.

Parking

Two parking lots with a total of 502 parking spaces were built as part of this venue. The Porter North lot has 385 parking spaces and the Porter South Lot has 117. Improvements were also made to Parking Lot 44, which this venue shares with Beaver Stadium and the

Bryce Jordan Center The Bryce Jordan Center is a 15,261-seat multi-purpose arena in University Park, Pennsylvania, United States, on the University Park campus of the Pennsylvania State University. The arena opened in 1996 and is the largest such venue between ...

Accessibility

This venue is accessible by foot, bicycle, public transportation, car, and by air travel. As part of this venue's construction, a landscaped pedestrian plaza called Porter Gardens was built along Porter Road,

bicycle rack The ambiguous term bicycle rack or bike rack may refer to: *Bicycle carrier, a device attached to a vehicle (e.g., to a car or bus) to which bicycles can be mounted for transport *Bicycle parking rack, a stationary fixture to which a bicycle can be ...

s were installed, and a

Centre Area Transportation Authority The Centre Area Transportation Authority (CATA) is a mass transit agency that provides bus transportation within State College, Pennsylvania and the surrounding areas, as well as Pennsylvania State University. In , the system had a ridership of ...

(CATA) bus stop and drop–off zone was added for the Route H and Route P buses. Nearby

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...

s include Pennsylvania Route 26, Interstate 99/ U.S. Route 220,

U.S. Route 322 U.S. Route 322 (US 322) is a long, east–west United States Highway, traversing Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. The road is a spur of U.S. Route 22 and one of the original highways from 1926. A portion of it at one time was concurrent with ...

, and

Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one o ...

. University Park Airport is located approximately four miles (6.4 km) from the ballpark, and provides air travel connections to several cities.

References

External links

Stadium Page
from GoPSUsports.com
State College Spikes
website

* ttp://www.frontiernet.net/~rochballparks4/statecollege/statecollege.htm Photographs of Medlar Field at Lubrano Park – ''Rochester Area Ballparks'' {{State College, Pennsylvania College baseball venues in the United States Minor league baseball venues Pennsylvania State University campus Penn State Nittany Lions baseball Sports venues in Pennsylvania Baseball venues in Pennsylvania 2006 establishments in Pennsylvania Sports venues completed in 2006