Tenants: Cincinnati Reds (NL); Cincinnati Bengals (NFL, 1970-1999)
Opened: June 30, 1970
Last game: September 22, 2002
Demolished: December 29, 2002
Surface: AstroTurf 8 (1970 to 2000); grass (2001 to 2002)
Capacity: 52,952 (baseball, 1970), 39,000 (baseball, 2001); 59,754 (football, 1970)

Attendance figures

Architects: Heery & Heery and Finch, Alexander, Barnes, Rothschild & Pashal
Builder: n/a
Owner: City of Cincinnati
Cost: $45 million

Cincinnati Reds tickets:

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

Location: Left field (NE), Pete Rose Way, Broadway and Firstar Center (Riverfront Coliseum); third base (NW), Pete Rose Way on September 10, 1985; first base (SW), Roebling Suspension Bridge and the Ohio River; right field (SE), Mehring Way, railroad tracks, and the Ohio River.

Dimensions: Left field: 330 feet (1970), 325 feet (2001); left-center: 375 feet (1970), 370 feet (2001); center field: 404 feet (1970), 393 feet (2001); right-center: 375 feet (1970), 373 feet (2001); right field: 330 feet (1970), 325 feet (2001); backstop: 51 feet (1970), 41 feet (2001).

Fences: Left field: 12 feet (wood, 1970), 8 feet (wood, 1984); left-center: 12 feet (wood, 1970), 8 feet (wood, 1984), 14 feet (wood, 2001); center field: 12 feet (wood, 1970), 8 feet (wood, 1984), 40 feet (wood, 2001); right-center: 12 feet (wood, 1970), 8 feet (wood, 1984), 14 feet (wood, 2001); right field: 12 feet (wood, 1970), 8 feet (wood, 1984).

Riverfront Stadium was the third of the National League’s infamous "cookie-cutter" stadiums, debuting five years after Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, four years after St. Louis’s Busch Stadium and two weeks before Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Stadium. It was the first stadium to have its entire field covered by Astroturf, except for the cutouts around the bases and pitcher’s mound. Construction on the press box and stadium club was never finished. In its very first season it managed to host an All-Star Game, a playoff series, and a World Series. Before Riverfront Stadium opened on June 30, 1970, the Reds had spent 58 years playing at intimate Crosley Field, baseball’s only park with a two-tiered outfield. After more than three decades of talking about building a ballpark on the scenic Ohio riverfront, Cincinnati finally made it a reality.

In 1997, Cinergy Corporation, a Cincinnati based utility, reached an agreement with the Reds to rename the stadium Cinergy Field. That name was retained until the ballpark was demolished in 2002.

Before the beginning of the 2001 baseball season, the outfield stands were removed to facilitate construction of Great American Ball Park, the new ballpark built next to Riverfront Stadium. Another project which was undertaken was to replace the artificial turf with natural grass.

Trivia:

• First stadium to paint metric distances on outfield walls: 100.58 down the lines, 114.30 to the alleys, 123.13 to center.
• Used Crosley Field’s home plate until April 1, 1997, when a new home plate was installed.
• Basepads were been filled with dirt from a local graveyard.
• Second base occupied the spot where the home of Roy Rogers, the singing cowboy, once stood.
• A parking garage was located beneath stadium.
• "4,192" circle in left-center commemorated Pete Rose’s 4,192nd hit here on September 11, 1985.
• Retired Reds jerseys included former manager Fred Hutchinson (No. 1), Ted Kluszewski (18) and Hall of Famers Frank Robinson (20), Johnny Bench (5), Joe Morgan (8) and Tony Perez (24).
• The Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates played the slowest game ever here on August 30, 1978 - 80.6 minutes per inning, called off after 3½ innings and 3½ hours of rain delays at 12:47 a.m.
• Winds helped righthanded hitters.
• Hosted the 1988 and 1970 All-Star games.

More on Riverfront Stadium:

• Seating chart

Recommended Reading (bibliography):

• Opening Day at Great American Ball Park by Dann Stupp.
• Riverfront Stadium: Home of the Big Red Machine by Mike Shannon.
• 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.
• City Baseball Magic: Plain Talk and Uncommon Sense about Cities and Baseball Parks by Philip Bess.
• Diamonds: The Evolution of the Ballpark by Michael Gershman.
• Green Cathedrals: The Ultimate Celebration of All 273 Major League and Negro League Ballparks by Philip J. Lowry.
• Lost Ballparks: A Celebration of Baseball's Legendary Fields by Lawrence S. Ritter.
• Roadside Baseball: A Guide to Baseball Shrines Across America by Chris Epting.
• The Story of America's Classic Ballparks (VHS).