Payne Park

Description

Payne Park was a baseball field that stood from 1924 to 1990, and is now an public park in the same location which replaced it, in Sarasota, Florida. Payne Park, the original stadium for the city of Sarasota, was built on a portion of 60acre of land donated by Calvin Payne and his wife, Martha. Payne Park today is a 29acre public park used for recreational and high school sporting events.BallparkThe ballpark was erected in 1924 and was a long time spring training and minor league site for baseball clubs such as the Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox and the New York Giants. The park ceased its association with professional baseball in 1989 with the construction of Ed Smith Stadium and the ballpark was demolished. Until 1963, the ballpark's dimensions were 375ft down the foul-lines and 500ft to center-field.The ballpark was refurbished on multiple occasions. Prior to Spring Training 1951, the City of Sarasota added 600 permanent bleachers increasing capacity to just over 4,000. The size of the press-box was doubled as well.The White Sox moved their spring training games from Tampa to Sarasota in 1960. Prior to spring training 1963, The City of Sarasota changed the ballpark's dimensions to 352ft down the foul-lines and 415ft to center field to match the White Sox' Comiskey Park dimensions.The Chicago White Sox and Texas Rangers played the last major league spring training game at Payne Park on March 30, 1988.Payne Park todayThe City of Sarasota reopened the former ballpark-site as Payne Park on October 6, 2007 as a 29acre public park space. The public park was built at a cost of $8.8 million, funded by a county-wide penny surtax.