San Jose Municipal Stadium – San Jose CA

Description

The WPA built this baseball stadium for San Jose in the early 40s:

“In the late 30s the City of San Jose decided that for professional baseball to stay, they needed a permanent stadium. After applying and some lobbying a grant for $80,000 was procured. Construction started in spring 1941, and despite the outbreak of war was completed a year later. The war did mean that the local team folded after the 1942 season, but when another was founded in 1947, baseball was here to stay.

What the city got for the money was a single level arc, in a slight art-deco style, stretching from first base to third. Twenty rows deep, and with built in locker rooms, the stadium originally seated 2,900, mostly on bench seating. Through the years, the seating has increased to an official 4,200, but large general admission areas recently allowed a modern record of 5,219.

The structure has been upgraded and refurbished several times in it’s 66 year history, but the future in San Jose is in doubt. The Oakland Athletics are scheduled to move to nearby Fremont in 2011. The prospect of a major league team 20 miles away may significantly affect the fan base.”