Truist Stadium

Truist Stadium is a ballpark in Winston-Salem, North Carolina that replaced Ernie Shore Field. It is primarily used for baseball, and is the home field of the Winston-Salem Dash minor league baseball team.

This article is about the ballpark in Winston-Salem. For the football stadium in Winston-Salem, see Truist Field at Wake Forest. For the ballpark in Atlanta, see Truist Park. For the ballpark in Charlotte, see Truist Field. For the ballpark in High Point, see Truist Point.
Truist Stadium
Truist Stadium
Location within North Carolina
Former namesBB&T Ballpark (2010–2020)
Address951 Ballpark Way
LocationWinston-Salem, NC 27101
Coordinates36.091602°N 80.255962°W / 36.091602; -80.255962
OwnerCity of Winston-Salem
OperatorWinston-Salem Dash LLC
Capacity5,500
Field sizeLeft field: 315 ft (96 m)
Center field: 399 ft (122 m)
Right field: 323 ft (98 m)[1]
SurfaceGrass
Construction
Broke groundOctober 30, 2007
OpenedApril 10, 2010
Construction cost$48.7 million[2]
($57.1 million in 2019 dollars[3])
Architect360 Architecture
CJMW Architecture
Structural engineerCity Structures D&P, Inc.[4]
General contractorSamet Construction[2]
Tenants
Winston-Salem Dash (CL) (2010–present)

The ballpark is bounded by Peters Creek Parkway (northwest/west); 1st Street (north); and Green Street (northeast, left-center field). Business I-40 is toward the south/southeast.

History

It was originally planned to open for the 2009 season. Various delays pushed it to mid-2009, and then to the 2010 season. Oversights such as the budget, by city planners, were reported to be the cause.[5]

Destruction of a predominately African American neighborhood occurred to allow the development of the stadium. This continued the long history of developmental racism against Winston Salem's African American community.[6] The best example of which is the development of Highway 52.

The first home game was played on April 13, 2010, against the Potomac Nationals, resulting in a 5–4 loss in 12 innings, before 7,111 spectators.[7] At the end of its first season, the stadium was named Ballpark of the Year by Baseballparks.com.[8]

Naming rights

On February 24, 2010, the Dash announced that Winston-Salem based bank BB&T had signed a 15-year naming rights deal for the new ballpark. BB&T also owned the naming rights for fellow Winston-Salem Entertainment-Sports Complex venue BB&T Field, home to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team.[9]

This was the second ballpark in the Carolina League sponsored by BB&T. The first was BB&T Coastal Field (now TicketReturn.com Field at Pelicans Ballpark), home to the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. BB&T also sponsored BB&T Ballpark (now Truist Field) for the Charlotte Knights which opened in the spring of 2014.[10]

The ballpark was renamed Truist Stadium in June 2020 due to the 2019 merger of BB&T and SunTrust Banks to form Truist.[11]

References
  1. "BB&T Ballpark". Ballpark Digest. April 10, 2010. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  2. "Building for the Future: Minor League Stadiums". SportsBusiness Journal. April 19, 2009. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  3. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  4. "BB&T Ballpark". City Structures D&P, Inc. Retrieved September 24, 2011.
  5. Graff, Laura (May 6, 2009). "Extra Innings, and Still No Winner – Sources: Ballpark Not Likely to Open This Year". Winston-Salem Journal. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  6. Cruise, Shane Nash (2011). "Reynoldstown: Race, Blight, Disease, Highway Construction and the Transformation of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. | Urban Renewal | City". Scribd. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
  7. "Nats Take BB&T Ballpark Opener with 5–4 Win". Minor League Baseball. April 14, 2010. Retrieved April 18, 2010.
  8. Mock, Joe (August 28, 2010). "BB&T Ballpark Definitely Worth the Wait". Baseball Parks. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
  9. Carver, Richard (February 24, 2010). "Spreading the name: BB&T Sees Benefit in Affixing Bank's Name to Stadiums Here and Elsewhere". Winston-Salem Journal. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  10. "Groundbreaking for New Knights Ballpark Set for Sept. 14". Ballpark Digest. August 24, 2012. Retrieved September 6, 2012.
  11. Brasier, John (June 18, 2020). "Dash stadium has new name to reflect BB&T merger". Triad Business Journal. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
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