Tenant: San Francisco Giants (NL)
Opened: March 31, 2000 (exhibition against the Milwaukee Brewers)
First regular season game: April 11, 2000 (against the Los Angeles Dodgers)
Construction began: December 11, 1997
Surface: Sports Turf (blend of five low-growing bluegrass hybrid turf grasses)
Capacity: 40,930 (2000); 41,059 (2001); 41,503 (2004). Figures do not include 1,500 standing room capacity.

Architect: HOK Sport (Kansas City)
Construction: Huber, Hunt & Nichols, Inc. and Kajima Construction Services
Owner: China Basin Ballpark Corp., a subsidiary of the Giants
Cost: $357 million
Private financing: $170 million loan from Chase Manhattan Bank, $70 million from the sale of charter seat licenses, $102 million from the sale of naming rights, sponsorships and other sources, and $15 million in tax increment financing by the city's redevelopment agency.

San Francisco Giants tickets:

• Viewpoint Tickets - Best prices on Giants tickets, MLB tickets and MLB All Star tickets.

Location: A 13-acre site is bounded by King, 2nd and 3rd Streets and China Basin. Left field (NE), 2nd Street; 3rd base (NW), King Street; 1st base (SW), 3rd Street; right field (SE), China Basin.

Dimensions: Left field: 335 feet (2000), 339 feet (2004); left-center: 364 feet (2000), 364 feet (2004); center field: 404 feet (2000), 399 feet (2004); right-center: 420 feet (2000), 421 feet (2004); right field: 307 feet (2000), 309 feet (2004); backstop: 48 feet (2000).

Fences: Left field: 8 feet; center field: 8 feet with 19-foot span that reaches 11 feet high at its peak in left-center; right field: 25 feet.

Financing: The ballpark is the first privately funded ballpark built for Major League Baseball since Dodger Stadium opened in 1962. No new taxes and no money from San Francisco's general fund were used to build the ballpark. The Giants lease the land on which the ballpark sits from the Port of San Francisco at a fair market value.

Access: AT&T Park is served by more public transportation than any other ballpark in the country and is within walking distance of downtown and many city neighborhoods. Fans are able to take Muni Metro streetcars and trolley busses, BART (via an in-station link to Muni Metro), CalTrain, buses and ferries to the new ballpark. Those choosing to drive to the ballpark have easy access to AT&T Park via the Bay Bridge, Highways 101 and 280 and major San Francisco thoroughfares, including Third Street and the Embarcadero.

Parking: The Giants encourage the use of public transportation as the primary means of getting to the ballpark. Parking, however, will be provided to meet the demands of those who wish to drive to the ballpark. In addition to the 6,500 parking spaces that currently exist within a 5-10 minute walk of the ballpark site, the Giants provide up to 5,000 additional spaces dedicated for ballpark use.

Weather: AT&T Park is located in one of the sunniest, warmest areas in San Francisco. Wind conditions are greatly improved from Candlestick Park, as modern design technology allows for construction which can block the wind effectively.

Waterfront Promenade: A unique public promenade has been developed along the waterfront from right field to center field where fans of all ages can watch the game through a fence at no charge and where San Franciscans can enjoy new access to the bay 365 days a year. Ferries dock directly adjacent to the ballpark beyond the right field wall.

AT&T Park Amenities:

• 68 luxury suites and 5,200 club seats which feature waiter service, a private club and private concession and concourse areas.
• 1,500 special field seats located at ground-level behind home plate and between the dugouts.
• Numerous and convenient bathroom facilities.
• Full access for fans with disabilities.
• Retail outlets, specialty food and beverages areas and plentiful telephones.
• Extra-wide concourses which have a view of the field so fans don’t miss any action while at concession stands or while on the way to the bathroom.
• Superior sightlines. Unlike Candlestick Park and other multi-purpose facilities, all seats at AT&T Park face the baseball diamond.
• Improvements in lighting technology allow for ballpark lighting which does not leak out into the surrounding neighborhood.

AT&T Park Trivia:

• During the planning and construction of AT&T Park the cost of building the ballpark was reported to be $255 million.
• Pacific Telesis Group paid $53 million in 1996 to name the ballpark Pacific Bell Park during the years 2000 through 2019. SBC Communications Inc., then known as Southwestern Bell Corp., bought Pacific Telesis Corp. in 1997 and changed the name of the ballpark to SBC Park on January 1, 2004.
• SBC Communications, Inc. merged with AT&T Corp. in 2005. The new company, known as AT&T, Inc., announced on February 3, 2006 that the name of the ballpark would be changed to AT&T Park on March 1, 2006.
• Site of the 2007 All-Star game.
• The Giants' Kirk Rueter threw the first official pitch. It was a ball to Devon White of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
• The Dodgers' Kevin Elster hit the first official home run on Opening Day, April 11, 2000. He went on to hit three home runs that day.
• Barry Bonds hit the first official Giants home run on Opening Day, April 11, 2000 and the first official home run into China Basin (McCovey's Cove) over the right field fence on May 1, 2000.
• The Giants lost their first six games at AT&T Park (then called Pacific Bell Park). Their first home victory did not come until April 29, 2000 against the Montreal Expos.
• Bobby McFerrin sang the national anthem on Opening Day.
• Huge glove in left field is clearly marked with a "501" sign (the distance from home plate to the pocket of the glove is 518 feet) making it the most distant current outfield measurement sign in baseball.
• Barry Bonds broke Hank Aaron's home run record by hitting his 756th home run here on August 7, 2007.
• Barry Bonds hit his 500th (04/17/01), 600th (08/09/02), 700th (09/17/04) and 715th (05/28/06) home runs here.
• The Opening Day game on April 5, 2005 drew a record crowd of 42,788, surpassing the previous record of 42,686 set July 22, 2004 against the San Diego Padres.
• Before the 2006 season, a replica of the "Eddie Grant" memorial was placed near an elevator on the left field side of the ballpark, which is visible from outside the park. The original granite monument, which honored the only MLB player killed in WWI, was five feet high and stood in center field of the Polo Grounds at the base of the clubhouse wall.
• Plaques on the portwalk beyond the right-field wall commemorate the first game played at AT&T Park, the Giants' division titles in 2000 and 2003, the team's NL pennant in 2002, Barry Bonds' home runs (Nos. 500, 600, 660, 700 and 756) and Rob Nenn on becoming the youngest player to earn his 300th career save.

More on AT&T Park:

• Construction photos
• Seating chart & game information

Recommended Reading (bibliography):

• Inaugural Season: The San Francisco Giants and their First Season at Pacific Bell Park by Rob Dell'Ergo.
• Splash Hit! Pac Bell Park and the San Francisco Giants by Joan Walsh, C. W. Nevius, Larry Baer and Peter Magowan.
• Fodor's Baseball Vacations, 3rd Edition: Great Family Trips to Minor League and Classic Major League Ballparks Across America by Bruce Adams and Margaret Engel.
• The Ultimate Baseball Road-Trip: A Fan's Guide to Major League Stadiums by Joshua Pahigian and Kevin O'Connell.
• Joe Mock's Ballpark Guide by Joe Mock.
• Take Me Out to the Ballpark: An Illustrated Tour of Baseball Parks Past and Present by Josh Leventhal and Jessica Macmurray.
• The Ballpark Book: A Journey Through the Fields of Baseball Magic (Revised Edition) by Ron Smith and Kevin Belford.
• Ballparks: A Panoramic History by Marc Sandalow and Jim Sutton.
• Field of Schemes: How the Great Stadium Swindle Turns Public Money into Private Profit (2nd Edition) by Joanna Cagan and Neil deMause.
• Public Dollars, Private Stadiums: The Battle over Building Sports Stadiums by Kevin J. Delaney and Rick Eckstein.
• Sports, Jobs, and Taxes: The Economic Impact of Sports Teams and Stadiums by Roger G. Noll and Andrew Zimbalist.