Lynchburg City Stadium

Lynchburg City Stadium City of Lynchburg

Lynchburg City Stadium City of Lynchburg

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Lynchburg City Stadium City of Lynchburg

Project Overview The Lynchburg City Stadium was built in 1939 to provide combined baseball and football stadium facilities for the city. The baseball field is home to the Lynchburg Hillcats, a class A minor league team, while the football field hosts Lynchburg City Schools’ football, lacrosse, and soccer teams and also supports various local adult leagues and community programming. While a major renovation to the baseball field was completed in 2004, the City Stadium, until now, has been left relatively untouched since its original completion.

Over the years, the integrity of the original design has been compromised, with at least one building being demolished and others being used for unintended purposes. The City of Lynchburg was interested in solutions for bringing the stadium up to current standards while retaining the original charm and the architectural integrity of the stadium.

The stadium’s bleachers, stands, press boxes, entrances and exits, public spaces, sound system, and parking areas were assessed for improvement and thoughtfully restored and refreshed with modern details that also pay homage to the stadium’s 80-year history. This multi-phased renovation is the first installment of a longer-term renewal of the complex and a testament to the City’s dedication to ensuring the City Stadium continues to be well-used and well-loved by future generations.

Lynchburg City Stadium City of Lynchburg

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Lynchburg City Stadium City of Lynchburg

Historic Legacy The City Stadium was constructed under the New Deal’s Work Progress Administration (WPA). The complex was a focal point within the community as a place for baseball and football games and as a fairground where horse races and county fairs were held. The first baseball game played in the stadium was in 1940 – an exhibition game between the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers. Joe Dimaggio scored the first two runs in the new stadium.

The neighborhood containing the City Stadium complex has a long history of housing mixed industrial businesses and residential homes. The former Allen Morrison Corporation building was used for over 100 years as an industrial site, first as a wagon manufacturing company and later as a metal sign fabrication facility famous for being the supplier of metal CocaCola signs. What is now Lynchburg Grows was originally a family-run rose farm. The nine greenhouses covering 70,000 square feet, which were once used to produce 1.3 million roses annually, now features a working urban farm providing work opportunities for disabled and low-income individuals. The design team studied the entire site as a park precinct, with the City Stadium making up the first phase of the precinct’s modernization.

1 Residential Neighborhood

4 City Stadium

2 Allen Morrison Industrial Site

5 Calvin Falwell Baseball Field

3 Lynchburg Grows Greenhouses

6 Pocket Park

Lynchburg City Stadium City of Lynchburg

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Lynchburg City Stadium City of Lynchburg

Program of Amenities Entrance The new entrance to the stadium consists of a large entry gate, canopy, and ticket booth intended to create a sense of arrival for visitors. On both sides of the entry are new bathroom facilities and concession booths. The new entry plaza houses existing memorial plaques and new signage honoring those who once played at the stadium and explaining the history of the complex. Views of the Blue Ridge Mountains engulf visitors from all sides, providing a dramatic arrival sequence.

City Stadium + Calvin Falwell Field

Concourse Located behind the stands on both sides of the stadium, the concourse offers space for visitors to stretch their legs and conveniently access bathrooms and concessions.

Featuring a new edge that helps define both the bowl and nearby amenities as communal spaces, the concourse helps concentrate the energy and activities of the stadium within a centralized location – supporting safety and security while also creating a palpable sense of energy, especially on game days.

Ground Level Below the concourse are the new locker facilities which contain team lockers, meeting rooms, showers, bathrooms, and lockers for coaches and officials.

1 Entrance

2 Concourse

Site Plan

Existing Section Diagram

Proposed Section Diagram

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Stadium Improvements

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Lynchburg City Stadium City of Lynchburg

Lynchburg City Stadium City of Lynchburg

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Lynchburg City Stadium City of Lynchburg

Design Strategy Known as the “City of Seven Hills,” Lynchburg is an area with an abundance of topography, and the City Stadium site is no exception to this. The football field itself is a constructed topography, created by carving out a space for the field and using the excavated fill to create the earthen berm sides of the stadium on which the grandstands are constructed.

This theme of constructed topography inspired the creation of additional public amenities within the landscape surrounding the stadium.

The football field, a topographic high point on the site, provides fans with stunning views of the Blue Ridge Mountains west of the city. The strong visual connection to the larger regional topography of Virginia is an important characteristic of the stadium, with its design intentionally framing panoramic views of the city and mountains. The curved articulation of the new entry continues the semicircular geometry of the field and creates a threshold for an intimate amphitheater-like setting that draws people in and opens them up to the stunning mountain setting beyond.

Custom signage in the entry concourse depicts the history of the City Stadium, its legacy in the region, and its impact on Lynchburg’s sports teams and players. Featuring modern details and finishes, the entry signage contextualizes the Stadium’s legacy while orienting visitors to the architecture and views beyond.

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Lynchburg City Stadium City of Lynchburg

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Lynchburg City Stadium City of Lynchburg

Materiality As a WPA project, the infrastructure and built form of the City Stadium is of the highest quality – featuring durable materials such as brick, stone, and concrete and thoughtful construction strategies that have allowed the stadium to remain sturdily intact for close to 80 years.

The renovation focuses on distributing services on both sides of the stadium’s new entry (such as restrooms, concessions, and lockers) while updating the existing WPA infrastructure, including the stands and press boxes. New construction refreshes the stadium’s original materiality with modern details: •

The original stone wall surrounding the precinct inspired the use of Ironspot Brick and concrete, such as in the new concourse facility, featured right.

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Concrete is used as both a raw interior and exterior material. Building on its original WPA application, concrete is incorporated as a base to fill the expanded edges of the concourse and locker facility.

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Wood is used to add warmth to soffits, bench tops, and interior spaces such as the team locker areas.

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Renovated Concourse Featuring Brick, Wood + Concrete

Existing Concrete

Stone Wall

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Lynchburg City Stadium City of Lynchburg

Reuse + Rehabilitation As much as possible the design team incorporated re-purposed or reclaimed materials into the scope of the project. Deodar Cedars – specifically imported from India in the 1930s for their hardiness – were removed to make way for the new concourse and locker facility. A portable saw mill brought on site cut the wood into boards and planks which are featured throughout the stadium to add a sense of warmth and remembrance to the stadium structure.

By selectively improving and adding new public spaces, the stadium’s multi-use potential has skyrocketed – allowing the venue to host a variety of community events (from Friday night football games and movie nights to nonprofit events like Relay for Life) and doubly serve as a backdrop for Lynchburg’s legacy and hopes for the future. A community treasure, the City Stadium showcases how a communal asset can be reinvigorated in sensitive ways that make a lasting impact.

Deodar Cedar Details

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Team Locker Facility

VMDO Architects vmdo.com | 434.296.5684 200 E Market St Charlottesville, VA 22902 1200 18th Street NW Suite 700 Washington, DC 20036

For more information on Athletics work please contact:

For more information on Lynchburgh City Stadium please contact:

Joe Celentano, AIA, LEED AP celentano@vmdo.com

Noah Bolton, LEED AP BD+C bolton@vmdo.com

Randy Livermon, AIA, LEED AP BD+C livermon@vmdo.com