GPS City GuidePhoenixChase Field

Stop 39 of 39 · Phoenix audio walking tour

Chase Field

Downtown Phoenix · 1998 · Diamondbacks' Retractable-Roof Debut

What you'll hear here: about a minute on what happened at Chase Field and around Downtown Phoenix — the audio starts on its own when you walk into range.

Formerly Bank One Ballpark, Chase Field is the retractable-roof stadium you face in downtown Phoenix, Arizona. This is the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks; it opened in 1998, the year the Diamondbacks debuted as an expansion team. When it opened it was the first stadium built in the United States with a retractable roof over a natural grass playing surface, though it has used artificial turf since 2019.

The park was built during a wave of new, baseball-only parks in the 1990s, but here a dome was taken for granted: Phoenix is by far the hottest major city in North America, with an average high during baseball's regular season of 99.1 °F (37.3 °C), and game-time temperatures well above 100 °F (38 °C) are common in summer. You can also think about how local funding shaped this place: in the spring of 1994 the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors approved a 0.25 percentage point increase in the county sales tax to pay for their portion of the stadium funding. Notice the retractable roof and downtown Phoenix beyond it.

Where it is

Coordinates
33.44528, -112.06694
Area
Downtown Phoenix
Era
1998 · Diamondbacks' Retractable-Roof Debut
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Three stops free. No account needed. The audio plays itself as you walk.