Famous Structures- Fenway Park

By: Matthew Shuman

Fenway Park in the daytime

“Frozen Fenway” at the Winter Classic

Postcard of Fenway Park

I chose Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox as my famous structure. Fenway Park is located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Fenway Park

A map of where Fenway Park is located

View from home plate of Fenway Park

Fenway Park is the most unique baseball park in the MLB. Not only does it have the tallest wall in baseball, it also has the shortest wall in baseball. The green monster (wall in left field is made of a hard plastic. The wall is a dead load but, during games, many people pay extra so they can sit on the green monster so it becomes a live load. Gravity does not have to do with the wall when nobody is on it so therefore it is a dynamic load but, when people are on it, it becomes a static load. Fenway park is a very old stadium so the form of the structure is not modern. Some seats in Fenway Park are obstructed by poles because Fenway Park was originally built with those poles and they cannot change it. Another feature is that the stadium uses grass, not turf for the field and ground of the stadium. Fenway park is a combination structure of solid, shell and frame structure. It is a solid structure because it is solid, the walls and poles are solid and the overall stadium is solid. Fenway park is a shell structure because it is hollow and the stadium is in the shape of a shell. It is also a frame structure because like I said, many poles hold up the stadium. Fenway is known for how unique it is. The structure itself is small compared to most MLB stadiums and Fenway can only hold 39928 people at most per game.

Unique Parts of Fenway Park and Fenway Park’s Form

The “Green Monster” Fenway Park

Fenway Park’s FunctionFenway Park has many functions such as a baseball field, a hockey rink and even a soccer field. Fenway Park is known for hosting the Boston Red Sox but, it also hosted the Boston Bruins in a hockey game outdoors that happens annually. The function of the turf is that the turf drains water fast so when it rains, the water drains quickly. Fenway Park is designed to be a baseball stadium, but annually people come and skate on it. There are many seats in Fenway Park so it can hold many people but, Fenway cannot hold many people compared to other stadiums in the MLB! Fenway is designed in a way that it can be changed into a soccer field too! Soccer games are played there a few times a year. Fenway is also famous for the “Green Monster”, the huge wall in left field. The Green monster is the tallest wall in the MLB. Fenway Park is designed to confuse outfielders that have to catch crazy bounces from the walls. In right field, there is the shortest wall in the MLB so it is easy to hit homeruns over that wall. Fenway Park is where the Boston Red Sox play their games 81 times a year.

A view from the “Green MonsterFenway Park as a soccer field

Economic Connection to Fenway Park

Fenway Park connects to the economy in many ways. First of all, Fenway Park is home of the Boston Red Sox, one of the biggest market and richest teams in the MLB. Second of all, Fenway Park is a huge attraction that tourists see in Boston. Fenway Park is visited by people who don’t even like baseball because it is such a beautiful stadium. This affects Boston’s economy because without Fenway Park, Boston would not be so much of a tourist attraction and Boston wouldn’t have made money on the tourists that come to see it. Boston, being a rich team, has a really good team so this makes Fenway Park even more of an attraction to tourists to see the game. Fenway Park also makes money from the fan shops and food that people buy inside the stadium.

Bibliography

Rosen, Dan. “Flyers-Bruins to hit the ice at Boston’s Fenway Park”. NHL.com. NHL. July 15 2009. http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=442699. January 28 2012.

Desberg, Carl. “The History of the Green Monster” Sports then and now. Boston Sports then and now. July 1 2010. http://boston.sportsthenandnow.com/2010/07/01/the-history-of-the-green-monster/. January 26 2012.

Dell’Apa, Frank. “Fenway plans to host Liverpool soccer game” The Boston Globe Sports. The Boston Globe. January 17 2012. http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2012/01/17/fenway-plans-host-liverpool-soccer-game/jCpGOaNaby0RZbLv0tGDoM/story.html . January 23 2012.