Historic Durham Athletic Park
Posted by: 
showbizkid
N 36° 00.144 W 078° 54.200
17S E 688975 N 3986247
Historic Durham Athletic Park, the former home of the Durham Bulls.
Waymark Code: WM50V
Location: North Carolina, United States
Date Posted: 12/17/2005
Views: 57
Historic Durham Athletic Park was originally built in 1926 and was originally called El Toro Park.
In 1933, a local philanthropist, John Sprunt Hill, gave the city of Durham $10,000 to purchase the ballpark and it was renamed Durham Athletic Park or "DAP".
The original wooden grandstands burned to the ground in June 1939, right in the middle of the baseball season. Remarkably, after only two weeks a new ballpark was built with concrete and steel grandstands. Temporary bleachers were installed until permanent ones could be built.
In November 1987, Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins came to town to shoot the movie "Bull Durham," most of which is filmed at DAP and surrounding locations. The movie's release in 1988 brought the Durham Bulls national attention. The Bulls' famous "snorting bull" was originally used only as a prop for the movie, but has remained a Bulls' staple ever since.
The team began play at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, about a mile away, in 1995.
The ballpark is operated by the City of Durham's Parks and Recreation Department and is now called Historic Durham Athletic Park. The park still hosts amateur baseball and softball games as well as festivals and other events.
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