Cooper Stadium - Columbus, Ohio
Posted by: 
Mr. 0
N 39° 56.755 W 083° 01.706
17S E 326710 N 4423724
Home of the Columbus Clippers, Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. Located on W. Mound St. near downtown Columbus, Ohio.
Waymark Code: WM1KAM
Location: Ohio, United States
Date Posted: 05/25/2007
Views: 192
Cooper Stadium will be closed at the conclusion of the 2008 season. September 1 will be the last game here. A new stadium is being constructed and will be open for the 2009 seasonCooper Stadium has gone through a few name changes, reconstructions, and difficulties over the years. The Monday before construction was to start on this stadium, City Council started a petition to stop it due to concerns that construction would "wake the dead" given its close proximity to Mt. Calvary and Greenlawn Cemeteries. Eventually everything was worked out and the stadium eventually opened in June of 1932. It was intended to be the "finest stadium in all of baseball." It was built of the finest brick and California Redwood which added much to the $450,000 price tag. It was then home to the Columbus Red Birds.
The Red Birds played in Columbus until 1954, when the owner moved the team out of town. Harold Cooper, then County Commissioner, didn't want to see Columbus without a baseball team. He and eleven businessmen purchased the Jets, and renamed the stadium Jets Stadium. The Jets played here until 1970 when issues with a crumbling ballpark forced them to move. The city refused to purchase the stadium or help out with repairs. Columbus then endured six years without a baseball team.
Eventually Cooper managed to raise money through tax efforts to rebuild the park. The current park opened in May of 1977, and was known as Franklin County Stadium. This is the same park that you see today, although it did undergo some reconstruction in 1984. At that time it was also renamed Cooper Stadium, in honor of Harold Cooper.
Cooper Stadium was first minor league ballpark to have astroturf, but it was changed to a natural grass surface in 1999.
The Columbus Clippers are now an affiliate of the Washington Nationals. Prior to the 2007 season they were affiliated with the New York Yankees for many years.