Cleveland Indians: 5 secrets you might not know about Progressive Field

2. Design dedicated to Cleveland

While Factory of Sadness favorite I.M. Pei was capturing rebellion in the design of the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame, architects of Progressive Field sought to capture the essence of Cleveland in their design.

That’s why, you’ll notice a lot of exposed steel throughout the stadium, as the architects tried to blend the the retro re-do into Cleveland’s skyline.

The designers took it further, by adding vertical light towers, which further blended with the city’s skyscrapers. The lights are meant to resemble smoke stacks from the town’s industrial hey day.

The ballpark has undergone major renovations since it opened, but for the most part, the consensus is that Progressive Field has withstood the test of time.

Then known as Jacobs Field in 1994, the stadium came just after Baltimore’s Camden Yards, as ballparks started trending back to being traditional baseball cathedrals. The 1960s and 1970s saw stadiums flourish as multi-purpose use facilities.

That’s how it worked with Municipal Stadium, as the old Mistake by the Lake was a great place to watch a Browns game, but a cavernous experience for the 5,000 people who showed up to catch a Tribe game.

Other notable cookie cutter stadiums included Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers, Cincinnati’s Riverfront and Philadephia’s Veteran’s Stadium.