Lake Elsinore Diamond
Storm Stadium | |
 | |
 | |
| Location | 500 Diamond Drive Lake Elsinore, CA 92530 |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 33°39′15″N 117°18′7″W / 33.65417°N 117.30194°W |
| Owner | City of Lake Elsinore |
| Operator | Storm Entertainment |
| Capacity | 4,835 |
| Field size | Left Field – 330 ft Left-Center Power Alley – 425 ft Center Field – 400 ft Right-Center Power Alley – 386 ft Right Field – 310 ft Backstop – 50 ft |
| Surface | Tiffsport (Bermuda grass) |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | October 1992 |
| Opened | April 15, 1994[1] |
| Construction cost | $24.3 million ($50 million in 2023 dollars[2]) |
| Architect | HNTB[3] |
| General contractor | Peter M. Savello & Associates Inc.[4] |
| Tenants | |
| Lake Elsinore Storm (CL) (1994–present) | |
Lake Elsinore Diamond, also referred to as Storm Stadium, is a baseball park in Lake Elsinore, California. It is primarily used for baseball and is the home field of the Lake Elsinore Storm minor league baseball team in the California League. The field at Diamond Stadium is named Pete Lehr Field.
History
[edit]It was built in 1994 and has a capacity of over 8,000 people with 6,066 permanent seats.[5] That capacity was later reduced to 4,835 during renovations undertaken after the 2017 season which exchanged seating for an expansion of the left field deck area. The original $8 million construction estimate in 1992, however, ballooned to more than $22 million by the time of its completion.[6]
Other uses
[edit]The company that currently manages the site is Storm Entertainment, a newly developed entity of Storm Baseball. When baseball is not in season, the field is used for a number of other purposes including concerts, boxing matches, and local high school graduations, all of which can utilize temporary seating to increase the capacity to 14,000.[7]
This stadium also has a yearly event for Halloween, the "Field of Screams".[8]
In December 2017, the park hosted the Stadium Super Trucks racing series' World Championship Finals. To create the course, approximately 150,000 square feet of dirt was brought in.[9] The series returned to the Diamond for its 2018 season opener,[10] while the 2020 edition was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[11][12]
Diamond Tap Room
[edit]The Diamond Tap Room is the name of the enclosed restaurant and patio in the left field corner. The restaurant has a full menu and is open to the public during all home games. The venue can host various events including birthdays, weddings, etc. It can hold up to 300 guests has several full menus for one's choosing.[13]
Dimensions
[edit]Right field is 310 feet away from home plate, with center field at a distance of 400 feet and left field at a distance of 330 feet. The deepest part of the park is the left center power alley at 425 feet. The grass used is Tiffsport, a hybrid Bermuda grass, which is overseeded with ryegrass for the winter.[14]
See also
[edit]- Lake Elsinore Storm
- Lake Elsinore, California
- San Diego Padres
- Riverside County, California
- Minor league baseball
- Farm team
References
[edit]- ^ Bloom, Barry M. (April 27, 1994). "Investors Discuss Vista's Minor-League Prospects". San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved November 6, 2011.[dead link]
- ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- ^ "Ballparks: Lake Elsinore Diamond". Friends of San Diego Architecture. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
- ^ Bloom, Barry M. (September 3, 1994). "Baseball No Sure Hit for Towns. Booming Minor League Looking to North County". San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved April 14, 2012.[dead link]
- ^ "Stadium". City of Lake Elsinore. Archived from the original on March 26, 2014. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
- ^ Lewitt, Meghan; Nealon, Sean (September 30, 2006). "Lake Elsinore, Developer Can't Cut Diamond Deal". The Press-Enterprise. Riverside. Archived from the original on May 20, 2011. Retrieved March 1, 2009.
- ^ "The Diamond". Minor League Baseball. February 25, 2010. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
- ^ "Haunted Stadium". Haunted Stadium. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
- ^ "Stadium SUPER Trucks World Championship Finals Set For December 15 & 16 At Lake Elsinore Diamond Stadium". Stadium Super Trucks. October 6, 2017. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
- ^ Sinclair, Adam (January 11, 2018). "Stadium SUPER Trucks to Start 2018 World Championship at Lake Elsinore Diamond Stadium January 27". Speedway Digest. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
- ^ Nguyen, Justin (December 17, 2019). "SST returning to Lake Elsinore in 2020". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
- ^ Stadium Super Trucks [@SSuperTrucks] (November 18, 2020). "We were going to run there this year but COVID said no / It's an option, but won't happen until it's back to 100% fan capacity" (Tweet). Retrieved November 25, 2020 – via Twitter.
- ^ "Diamond Club". Minor League Baseball. February 26, 2010. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
- ^ "The Lake Elsinore Diamond". Storm Entertainment. Archived from the original on April 20, 2008. Retrieved March 1, 2009.