Durham Athletic Park

[yankeebiscuitfan]

I have seen quite some 360 stadium tours through the years, but none have been as splendid as this one. Images are razorsharp.

http://digitour360.com/durhambulls/

Enjoy.

[CoreyR]

Awesome freaking tour. That 360 tour is something else. Google has implemented that amazingly well with their Google Maps.

[diehardbrewgirl]

Wow the quality is insane! It makes it feel like I'm actually there with a video camera spinning around in circles lol. The tour makes me want to visit that park and I had no intention of ever going there before or even knowing it existed haha

[yankeebiscuitfan]

Wow the quality is insane! It makes it feel like I'm actually there with a video camera spinning around in circles lol. The tour makes me want to visit that park and I had no intention of ever going there before or even knowing it existed haha

I must say that the original Durham Athletic Park is more authentic. But after the movie Bull Durham, the stadium could not cope with the number of visitors anymore. BTW, this Durham team has nothing to do with the team from the movie. That was an Atlanta Braves affiliation that moved twice to become the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (single A). This Bulls team is AAA.

[CoreyR]

The new park is great for all the new visitors, I think this is definitely what they needed. You can obviously tell by the pictures that the fans love their Bulls!!

[yankeebiscuitfan]

The new park is great for all the new visitors, I think this is definitely what they needed. You can obviously tell by the pictures that the fans love their Bulls!!

They have been contenders the last three years, even winning the AAA overall title in 2009. That helps a lot of course.

[CoreyR]

Yeah, that definitely helps. New ballparks are always so exciting. I wasn't too happy about the Yankees getting a new stadium though. The old Yankees stadium will long live in my heart. The history and legacy is so astonishing.

[yankeebiscuitfan]

Yeah, that definitely helps. New ballparks are always so exciting. I wasn't too happy about the Yankees getting a new stadium though. The old Yankees stadium will long live in my heart. The history and legacy is so astonishing.

So true. I never had the chance to go to old Yankee Stadium (I feel lucky enough that I was able to see them in Angel Stadium). That stadium breathed so much history. A real waste that they didn't keep it.

[yankeebiscuitfan]

Many of us will know Durham Athletic Park from the movie Bull Durham.

Before the Durham Bulls moved into DAP or El Toro in those days, they played their home games at Hanes Field of Trinity College from 1912-1926.

On July 7 1926 the Bulls moved into El Toro, then a wooden ballpark. Seven years later, the city of Durham bought the facility due to a 20,000 dollar donation by Annie Watts Hill and renamed it Durham Athletic Park.

As a result of the big depression the park didn't host Minor League Baseball during the 1934 and 1935 seasons.
On June 17 1939 the wooden ballpark was totally destroyed by a fire. The park was rebuilt using concrete and steel. The grandstand had some 1000 seats. Along the foul lines the park had bleachers too. The iconic round tower was part of the rebuilding too.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3017/2570987614_c0621bf677_b.jpg
Iconic tower before the renovations

http://www.allstarbaseballacademy.com/images/programs/durham_athletic_park.jpg and after

From 1940-1967 DAP was home to a Minor League team, except for the 1944 season. In 1945 the Bulls returned as tennant of DAP as a member of the newly formed Carolina League.

Fromm 1968-1971 DAP was part-time home of the Bulls. The team had merged with a team from Raleigh and played home games at DAP and in Raleigh. After the 1971 season the Bulls left, leaving Durham Athletic Park without a tennant.

It took 9 years before MiLB baseball was back at DAP again. Another franchise which adopted the name Durham Bulls played its homegames there.

The 1988 movie Bull Durham made the attendance figures rise tremendously. This made owner Miles Wolf push for a new stadium, also to obtain AAA status. Since the city of Durham was reluctant to build a stadium, Wolf sold the team, so he never saw the completion of new Durham Bulls Athletic Park as an owner. The new park was finished in 1995. The Bulls only played for two more years at the new park befor moving to Danville for the 1998 season and to Myrtle Beach to become the Pelicans in 1999.

The newly formed Tampa Bay Devil Rays decided to house their new AAA team in Durham. So another, new, franchise adopted the name Durham Bulls.

As for Durham Athletic Park; the facility is cherished as landmark now and is still in use as home for a collegiate summer baseball league club, a women’s professional softball team and baseball tournaments at various levels. In addition to baseball, the DAP has also been the site of concerts, festivals and other civic events. But shortly after the Bulls moved to their new park, there were votes to demolis Durham Athletic Park. Thanks goodness this never happened.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/db/2008-07-26_Durham_Athletic_Park.jpg/800px-2008-07-26_Durham_Athletic_Park.jpg

In 2008, the city of Durham began a $5.5 million renovation of the DAP. Later that year, the city entered into an agreement with Minor League Baseball for the governing body of the sport to operate the DAP.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3105/3168451788_8911110d37_b.jpg
2008 renovations

On August 15, 2009, Minor League Baseball held a free, public Grand Opening at the renovated DAP. MiLB currently uses the stadium as a training center for business and facility operations in the baseball industry, as well as for pilot initiatives such as its Longball Program.

In addition to serving as the home field for North Carolina Central University, Durham American Legion Post 7 and amateur baseball tournaments, the DAP also hosts other Durham city events. The stadium is located in what they call nowadays the Warehouse District.

On May 10, 2010, the Bulls returned to the DAP for one game. Durham dropped a 6-4 Triple-A International League decision to the Toledo Mud Hens before an overflow crowd of 3,911 fans. There are plans to let the Bulls play one game a year in DAB.

[yankeebiscuitfan]

http://inlinethumb40.webshots.com/33959/1159157767055654939S600x600Q85.jpg


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBudufgvHHM&feature=player_embedded
Durham Bulls returning to Durham Athletic Park (2010)

[yankeebiscuitfan]

Here some pics of the early days of the park:

http://www.endangereddurham.org/Photos/DAP_NW_1940s.jpg
1940 shortly after its opening of the steel/concrete park

http://www.endangereddurham.org/Photos/EastDurham_BaseballField_1920s.jpg
El Toro in the late 1920's, then still made of wood

http://www.endangereddurham.org/Photos/DAP_povertymarch_051668.jpg
DAB during the Anti Poverty March in 1968

http://www.endangereddurham.org/Photos/DAP_late1980s.jpg
DAP in 1993, the last season of the Bulls there

[yankeebiscuitfan]

http://www.endangereddurham.org/Photos/DAP_NE_060808.jpg
Shortly before the renovation in 2008

http://www.endangereddurham.org/Photos/DAP_fromGeerS_060808.jpg
Shortly before the renovation in 2008

http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/31593094.jpg
The grandstand after the renovation

http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/31593084.jpg
The entrance after the renovation

[yankeebiscuitfan]

http://www.digitalballparks.com/SouthAtlantic/Durham_-_Stands_from_LF_stands_V2T.jpg

http://www.digitalballparks.com/SouthAtlantic/Durham_-_Whole_Stadium_from_CF_far_V2T.jpg

http://www.digitalballparks.com/SouthAtlantic/Durham_-_3rd_base_stands_from_home_V2T.jpg

http://www.digitalballparks.com/SouthAtlantic/Durham_-_1st_base_stands_from_above_V2T.jpg

[yankeebiscuitfan]

http://www.digitalballparks.com/SouthAtlantic/Durham_-_Tourret_V2T.jpg

http://www.digitalballparks.com/SouthAtlantic/Durham_-_Stands_from_upper_Right_V2T.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2345/2451981581_91eae19c93_o.jpg

[JoshRedcay]

Even though there's been a renovation, it's crazy to think how long that stadium has been there. Awesome pics too!

[yankeebiscuitfan]

There are older stadiums around. But 71 years is a respectable age. Thanks goodness that they decided to maintain the park. It would be something to play there.

---------- Post added at 09:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:00 PM ----------

http://www.littleballparks.com/Stadium/2002/Durham/Large/Images/Durham_Old_10001.jpg
Isn't it a beauty?

http://www.littleballparks.com/Stadium/2002/Durham/Large/Images/Durham_Old_10004.jpg
Full house during the AAA game in 2010

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2477/3827176196_a3dabb65dc_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2461/3680823680_e659a7a346_b.jpg

[yankeebiscuitfan]

Here are some pics of the renovation back in 2008.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3253/3013991357_377e9b5d3a_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3240/3013986563_64a8e13601_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3022/3014813204_f4cb8e7b75_b.jpg