Southwest University Park is a
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
A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...
in
El Paso, Texas
El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...
. Primarily used for
Minor League Baseball, it is the home of the
El Paso Chihuahuas
The El Paso Chihuahuas are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. They are located in El Paso, Texas, and play their home games at Southwest University ...
of the
Pacific Coast League
The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...
. Opened in 2014, the facility has an official capacity of 9,500, with 7,500 fixed seats with the rest being berm and party deck standing room sections.
[
The name ''Southwest University'' is applied as a corporate sponsor, and not as the home stadium of ]Southwest University at El Paso
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
(which has no intercollegiate athletics program; the university is a for-profit virtual college).elevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...
of the playing field is approximately above sea level
Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...
.
History
The complex is situated upon the site of El Paso's former City Hall, which was demolished by implosion on April 14, 2013, to make way for the stadium. Former El Paso Mayor Ray Salazar
Reynaldo "Ray" Salazar (August 25, 1931 – April 28, 2016) was an American accountant, politician and veteran of the United States Navy, who served as the Mayor of El Paso, Texas, from 1977 until 1979. Salazar was El Paso's second Hispanic mayor, ...
had filed a 2013 lawsuit to stop the demolition of the old City Hall, alleging the misuse of public funds by city officials, but the lawsuit was dismissed in court.University of the Southwest
The University of the Southwest is a private Christian university located in Hobbs, New Mexico. The university was incorporated under as College of the Southwest in 1962, although the college had existed for several years prior as a two-year ...
located in Hobbs, New Mexico
Hobbs is a city in Lea County, New Mexico, Lea County, New Mexico, United States. Its population was 40,508 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, increasing from 34,122 in 2010.
Hobbs is the principal city of the Hobbs, New Mexico microp ...
.)
In January 2017, Southwest University Park was selected as the host site for the 32nd Triple-A All-Star Game
The Triple-A All-Star Game was an annual baseball game held from 1988 to 2019 between professional players from the affiliated Triple-A leagues of Minor League Baseball. These leagues were the International League (IL) and Pacific Coast League ( ...
, to be played in July 2019.
In August 2018, Southwest University Park was awarded the title of "Best View in the Minors" by Minor League Baseball fans. The El Paso park topped Peoples Natural Gas Field
Peoples Natural Gas Field is a 7,210-seat baseball-only stadium in Altoona, Pennsylvania, that opened in 1999. It is the home ballpark of the Eastern League's Altoona Curve Minor League Baseball team.
History
The groundbreaking ceremony for th ...
, home of the Altoona Curve
The Altoona Curve are a Minor League Baseball team based in Altoona, Pennsylvania, named after nearby Horseshoe Curve (but also alluding to the curveball, a type of pitch). The team plays in the Eastern League and is the Double-A affiliate of the ...
, and Modern Woodmen Park
Modern Woodmen Park (known previously as John O'Donnell Stadium and Municipal Stadium) is a minor league baseball venue located in Davenport, Iowa. It is home to the Quad Cities River Bandits, the Midwest League affiliate of the Kansas City Roya ...
, home of the Quad Cities River Bandits
The Quad Cities River Bandits are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. Their home games are played at Modern Woodmen Park (formerly John O'Donnell Stadium) in Davenport, Iowa, one ...
, in the voting.
Features
The design theme is based on the Union Depot and incorporates architectural details found in the region's historic buildings, such as the Kress Building in Downtown El Paso. It also pays tribute to the city's baseball history through various forms of art.
References
External links
Venue websiteCity of El Paso Ballpark PageBallpark Digest PreviewBallpark Fact Sheet
{{USL Venues
Baseball venues in Texas
Minor league baseball venues
Baseball venues in El Paso, Texas
El Paso Chihuahuas
2014 establishments in Texas
Soccer venues in Texas
USL Championship stadiums
El Paso Locomotive FC
Populous (company) buildings
Pacific Coast League ballparks