Philadelphia, PA – When the Philadelphia Phillies organization set out to design an interactive baseball experience for their younger fans at Citizens Bank Park, they called on AstroTurf to help them with “The Yard.” This new family-friendly area gives kids their own “major league” park to play in.
The Yard is free with admission to Phillies home games and features Citizens Bank Phan Field, a mini-field of dreams constructed by AstroTurf®, where kids can hit WIFFLE Balls, run the bases and imitate their baseball heroes. This authentic play area resembles the Phillies big-league field, with the diamond orientation sharing the same skyline as the vista of the City.
“One of the first things fans want to do when coming to The Yard is try to hit one out of the park,” said David Buck, Phillies Executive Vice President. “Our new AstroTurf field is every kid’s dream, and we’re excited to have this among our newest enhancements at the ballpark.”
The field itself is an AstroTurf® PGPN system over an Armacel pad. The system is made up of a Polyethylene face and a Nylon RootZone that will be especially durable and safe for this type of play. The pad offers uniform consistency and density and a good shock absorbency. This system will offer the Phillies fans years of quality play and performance while looking good long after it has been installed.
“All of our projects are important to us but some are just more fun than others,” said Aaron Klotz, AstroTurf’s Director of Baseball. “This field really captures the spirit of what our company is all about – giving kids a fun and safe place to play.”
The Yard is the Phillies’ new 13,000 square foot interactive baseball experience that literally gets kids in the game. Among the highlights is Citizens Bank Phan Field, complete with a major league dugout, a padded outfield wall and an AstroTurf field that stretches 70-feet deep. There is also a scaled-down version of the team’s PhanaVision electronic scoreboard and iconic Liberty Bell. It has all of the elements to help a kid feel like a big leaguer. Also featured is a Hatfield Phanatic Hot Dog Launcher where kids can test their marksmanship by aiming at targets on the wall with foam frankfurters, and a 30-foot Phanatic Climbing Wall giving fans the chance to clamber around graphic depictions of Philadelphia’s landmark buildings.
About AstroTurf:
For athletes and sport enthusiasts, AstroTurf® has redefined the way the game is played. The brand offers advanced, state-of-the-art, multi-sport and specialized synthetic turf systems with proprietary engineered technologies. A growing number of high schools, colleges, professional sports teams and municipalities continue to select AstroTurf-branded products for their premium quality, technical superiority, and safety. To learn more, visit AstroTurf’s newly redesigned website at www.astroturf.com.