RANGERS STADIUM

Ameriquest Field in Arlington can be said to be a blend of old and new ballparks. The stadium is home to the Major League Baseball team, the Texas Rangers. Ameriquest Field is located in Arlington, Texas, between Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. It was constructed as a replacement for Arlington Stadium. Until May 2004 it was known as The Ballpark in Arlington. AmeriQuest Field was constructed just a quarter of a mile from Arlington Stadium and began on April 24, 1993. It took only 23 months for the stadium to be completed and cost $191 million. Ameriquest Field in Arlington opened on April 1, 1994. The first official game was on April 11 against the Milwaukee Brewers. David M. Schwarz Architectural Services of Washington, D.C. was the design architect on the project. Schwarz was selected from among 17 architects who originally made presentations in August, 1991. His imaginative design of the park reflects a traditional look of older ballparks and includes a major Texas influence. Ameriquest Field is a fan and player friendly stadium, with modern amenities that Rangers fans hadn’t seen in more than 20 years of play in Arlington Stadium. Outside the park, visitors can roam up Nolan Ryan Expressway and stroll along the Rangers Walk of Fame, reading about each team in franchise history on the brick path beneath them. From the exterior to the interior, many ideas from other bygone ballparks were used at Ameriquest Field. The exterior consists of red brick arches. Columns are used at the rear rows of the lower deck. However, the upper deck is the furthest from the action in major league history. The left field wall consists of a 10 foot high manual scoreboard. Located in right field is a double decked, covered homerun porch, which is similar to the one at Tiger Stadium. Ameriquest Field has many modern features as well. A four story office complex is located beyond centerfield, with a message board on top. The top floor holds the offices of the Texas Rangers, the second and third floors are leased to local businesses, and the first floor has been turned into retail shops and ticket windows. Bleachers from old Arlington Stadium, wrap around the outfield to a grassy incline in centerfield. The rest of the 49,166 green seats in the five tier stadium extend from behind home plate down to the right field foul pole, and down to and around the left field foul pole to an office complex in centerfield. The ballpark has 120 luxury suites divided into two levels, in which each suite is named after a Major League Baseball all-star player. A Sony Jumbo TRON is located above the homerun porch in right field. There are many amenities at Ameriquest Field, including Legends Museum, which contains baseball artifacts from the Baseball Hall of Fame, a children's learning center, and the Dr. Pepper Youth Ballpark, which contains games and activities. A brick Walk of Fame, containing information and rosters of every Texas Ranger team spans the entire ballpark. This stadium was the site of the 1995 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. It also hosted the first regular-season interleague game on June 12, 1997, when the Rangers played the San Francisco Giants. On May 7, 2004 the Rangers announced a deal with Ameriquest Mortgage Company to immediately rename their ballpark Ameriquest Field in Arlington. The 30-year agreement was reported to be for about $75 million.