RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., a typical cookie cutter stadium.

Cookie cutter stadiums are stadiums built primarily in the 1960s and 1970s in the United States, designed for use by multiple teams playing baseball, American football, and soccer. They have also been called "concrete donuts". Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, informally known as RFK Stadium (or just RFK), is a professional sports stadium in the United States. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ... A view of the playing field at Busch Stadium II St. ... United States simply as football, is a competitive team sport that is both fast-paced and strategic. ... Look up Football in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A chocolate-glazed doughnut A doughnut, or donut, is a deep-fried piece of dough or batter. ...

Most of these stadiums were open-air, but some were domed. Nearly all, at one time, had Astroturf playing surfaces. And they had a reputation for looking pretty much identical, like cookies from a cookie cutter. All exhibited a round (or rounded-square) grandstand design and similar field layouts. From the spectator standpoint, their circular nature made them ideal for none of the sports contained within them, due to having so many seats so far away from the action. It is fair to say that they "seemed like a good idea at the time", as most public comments about them were neutral at worst. It was a few years later, as their newness wore off, that the criticisms began to mount. During the 1990s and 2000s, they have been demolished one by one and replaced with "retro" style ballparks, which themselves have been criticized^[1] for being clones of the original "retro" park, Camden Yards in Baltimore. Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from an article revision dated 2006-02-04, and may not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ... Oriole Park at Camden Yards is a baseball stadium located in Baltimore, Maryland ( ), which was constructed to replace the aging Memorial Stadium. ...

Quotes

• "In the big leagues, the classic ballparks lasted into the 1960s, when the big show moved to the suburbs and ballparks got round." — Michael Benson, Ballparks of North American, 1989.
• "RFK Stadium... The first of the cookie-cutters." — ibid.
• "Stereotyped stadiums." — Lowell Redenbaugh, Take Me Out to the Ball Park, 1983
• "...today's cold, concrete ovals." — Lawrence S. Ritter, Lost Ballparks, 1992.
• "When I go up to bat, I can't tell whether I'm in Cincinnati, Philly, Pittsburgh or St. Louis. They all look alike!" — Former major leaguer Richie Hebner, quoted in Lost Ballparks.
• "Symmetrical concrete sterile ugly ashtrays." — Philip J. Lowry, Green Cathedrals, 1992.

Cinergy Field, formerly known as Riverfront Stadium (1970 - 2002) was the home of the Cincinnati Reds Major League Baseball team and the Cincinnati Bengals National Football League team. ... Philadelphia Veterans Stadium (or The Vet) was located at the northeast corner of Broad Street and Pattison Avenue in Philadelphia. ... The Honus Wagner Statue outside Gate C Three Rivers Stadium was a multipurpose sports stadium and event facility located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. The stadiums name was derived from the junction of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers, where they formed the Ohio River, the Golden Triangle. The stadium was... Busch Stadium in St. ... Richard Joseph Hebner (born November 26, 1947 in Boston, Massachusetts) is a former third baseman in Major League Baseball who had an 18-year career from 1968 to 1985. ...

References