Pictures, Videos and facts about new Mets stadium

Citi Field opens with a college baseball game

On November 13, 2006, Citigroup - the leading global financial services company operating in more than 100 countries - and the New York Mets announced an exclusive 20-year, multifaceted strategic marketing and business partnership that includes the naming rights for Citi Field, the new world-class home of the Mets, scheduled to open by Opening Day 2009.


Citi Field will feature unprecedented sightlines, amenities, and comfort for Mets fans, sports fans and visitors to the New York metropolitan area. The open-air ballpark connects the Mets' National League heritage to the future and to the City through a number of unique design elements. Citi Field will feature natural grass and capacity for approximately 45,000 fans. A contoured seating configuration will bring spectators closer to the field on all levels to provide optimal sightlines for a more intimate and entertaining experience throughout the park.



> AMENITIES/FAN ENHANCEMENTS
• Citi Field's baseball-specific design produces superior sightlines for the game throughout the venue. There is a more intimate atmosphere with seating angled toward the infield and set down closer to the field. Forty-two percent of the ballpark's seats will be located in the Concourse (or lowest) seating level.

• The ballpark will feature some of the widest unobstructed concourses in new sports facilities. Concession stands and restrooms will be located within the facility's exterior walls leaving the circulation areas with uninterrupted views of the field.

• Wider seats provide enhanced comfort throughout the venue while more space between the rows allows for improved legroom.

• The Concourse level features 360-degree, walk-around circulation around the ballpark with expansive field views and ample standing room. The Promenade level features a split-deck design providing uninterrupted views into the ballpark from the circulation and concession areas.

• Fans throughout the ballpark will have access to multiple sit-down, climate-controlled restaurants, bars, clubs, and lounges, a majority of which will provide field views, and a wide range of menu choices.

• Numerous permanent attractions built into the master plan add to Citi Field's family-friendly environment, including: an expanded Fan Fest family entertainment area within the ballpark on the Concourse level, an enhanced outfield Picnic Area adjacent to the batter's eye, multiple party deck areas, and an interactive Mets museum with club memorabilia and Hall of Fame displays.


> ARCHITECTURAL HIGHLIGHTS
• Inspired by tradition, Citi Field will be clad in brick, limestone, granite and cast stone, with the brick closely resembling the masonry used at Ebbets Field, both in color and texture. Exposed steel will be painted dark blue and the seats will be dark green.

• A structural steel "bridge" motif throughout Citi Field reinforces the Mets' connection to New York's five boroughs while also symbolically linking the team's storied tradition to its future. Design elements call for exposed trusses, light towers, scoreboard structure, and a roof canopy that recall the ballparks of yesteryear.

• This landmark partnership will accelerate Citi's and the Mets' current significant commitments to the community with new resources to develop and launch outreach platforms and programs in and beyond New York City, involving both the Citigroup Foundation and the New York Mets Foundation.

As the first step in this effort, the Mets and Citi will commission a statue and name the entry rotunda of Citi Field - inspired by the classic design of Ebbets Field - to honor Jackie Robinson, the legendary pioneer and great American who broke baseball's color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. The partnership will include a significant commitment to recognize and perpetuate, in and around the rotunda and the community, Robinson's legacy and the "nine values" he embodied as articulated by his daughter and Foundation Vice Chair, Sharon Robinson: courage, integrity, determination, persistence, citizenship, justice, commitment, teamwork, and excellence.

In addition, Citi and the Mets through a pledge to the Jackie Robinson Foundation will help create the Jackie Robinson Foundation Museum and Education Center in lower Manhattan. As much as a tribute to Jackie Robinson, the Museum and Education Center will educate children about Jackie Robinson's pioneering spirit and leading role in social change. This partnership will support new programs for the Jackie Robinson Foundation, including leadership development and scholarships for students who exemplify Jackie's humanitarian ideals.


> SETTING HIGHLIGHTS
• A landscaped plaza around the ballpark will welcome fans, improve access and egress, and create space for pre- and post-game activities, vendors, and other amenities.

Various areas of Citi Field will reinforce the setting of the venue and the Mets connection to the City of New York and baseball history, including: the Ebbets Club behind the plate, Coogan's Landing beyond the leftfield fence, the "East Side" stands in rightfield, and "The Orchard" picnic area in centerfield.


> ON THE DIAMOND
Field Orientation: The four-acre natural turf field will expand from home in a northeasterly direction with the leftfield line stretching northward, and the rightfield line extending eastward.

Right Field Porch: In rightfield there will be a singular deck that will be situated to extend into and over fair territory by eight feet.

Pitcher Friendly: Distinctive asymmetrical outfield walls, along with generous dimensions (LF - 335'; LC - 379'; CF - 408'; RC - 383'; RF - 330') make for a traditional pitcher's park.


> DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION
Sterling Equities, the Mets ownership group, has expertise and experience in the development and management of premium New York City properties, as well as new minor league ballparks in Coney Island and Port St. Lucie, Fla. The Citi Field project is developed by Queens Ballpark Company, L.L.C. and has been designed by the internationally renowned architects of HOK Sport. HOK Sport has designed and renovated 13 of the 30 major league ballparks in use today and seven of the last eight to open in Major League Baseball. Hunt-Bovis, a joint venture of Hunt Construction Group and Bovis Lend Lease, will provide construction management.