METS STADIUM

Shea Stadium is a baseball stadium on Roosevelt Avenue in Flushing, Queens, New York where the New York Mets play. On the 15th of August, 1965 the world's first stadium concert which featured the Beatles was staged in Shea Stadium. The architectural firm of Praeger-Kavanagh-Waterbury designed the stadium to be the first all-purpose facility capable of hosting baseball and football games, seating 55,300 for baseball and 60,000 for the New York Jets football team. On October 28, 1961, ground was broken for a new stadium for the New York Mets. Unfortunately, the Mets had to play in antiquated Polo Grounds for two years before the move to the new stadium. Originally to be called Flushing Meadows Park, the stadium was renamed in honor of William A. Shea, thus getting its name Shea Stadium. Opening Day for Shea Stadium came on April 17, 1964. Shea Stadium became the grandest stadium when it opened. It was Christened, with Dodgers Holy Water from the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn and Giants Holy Water from the Harlem River at the exact location where it passed the old Polo Grounds. Shea Stadium cost $28.5 million to build. The five tiered stadium seated 55,601. It was the first stadium of its size to have an extensive escalator system, being able to convert from a football gridiron to a baseball diamond by two motor operated stands, and in which every seat was directed at the center of the field. After more than 1.7 million fans filled Shea Stadium in 1964, plans were announced to add 15,000 seats and add a dome. But a study showed that the stadium pilings could not hold a dome. In their first season at Shea the Mets attracted 1,732,597 paying customers, an increase of 700,000 over their 1963 attendance at the Polo Grounds. Shea was also the site of Major League Baseball's 1964 All-Star Game on July 7 of that inaugural season. Shea Stadium is located in the geographic and population center of New York City and since its opening has drawn over 73 million fans. Shea is accessible by car, subway, bus, ferry and the Long Island Railroad. The stadium contains 24 ramps and 21 escalators. It was also the first stadium capable of being converted from baseball to football and back using two motor-operated stands that moved on underground tracks. Shea Stadium is the noisiest outdoor ballpark in the majors because it is in the flight path of La Guardia Airport. The story goes that when the city scouted out stadium sites in 1962, they went during the winter, when flight paths into La Guardia are different, so they never anticipated the aircraft noise. The New York Yankees called Shea Stadium home from 1974-1975, while Yankee Stadium was undergoing reconstruction. The National Football League team, New York Jets, played at Shea from 1964 to 1983. The New York Giants played at Shea in 1975. The stadium is generally regarded as one of the loudest in the major leagues, not because of the crowd noise, but because of the proximity to La Guardia Airport. Shea also served as a relief center after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Shea Stadium is known to have a worst visibility for hitters in the Major.