Cooper Stadium was a

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

stadium in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...

that was built in 1931 and closed in 2008. It was the home of several minor league teams, including the

Columbus Clippers The Columbus Clippers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They are located in Columbus, Ohio, and are named for speedy merchant sailing vessels known as cli ...

from 1977 to 2008.

History

Cooper Stadium was built in 1931 as Red Bird Stadium as the home for the then-

Columbus Red Birds The Columbus Red Birds were a top-level minor league baseball team that played in Columbus, Ohio, in the American Association from 1931 through 1954. The Columbus club, a member of the Association continuously since 1902, was previously known as ...

of the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

, one of the minor league teams of the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

. It was constructed using the same blueprints which were used for building Red Wing Stadium in

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

in 1929. The Cardinals owned both teams when the respective stadiums were built. When the Red Birds moved to

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest c ...

after the 1954 season, the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ( ...

Ottawa Athletics The Ottawa Athletics (also known as the Ottawa A's) were a professional minor-league baseball team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, that operated from 1952 to 1954. The team played at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa and was a member of the Triple-A Inte ...

moved to Columbus as the Jets and took up residence at the stadium. Accordingly, it was renamed Jets Stadium. The Jets moved out in 1970, and the stadium sat dormant for six years. When the International League granted a new franchise to Columbus, the county government bought and renovated Jet Stadium, which was renamed Franklin County Stadium, for the newly minted Clippers. In 1984 the stadium was renamed in honor of Harold Cooper, who was responsible for bringing the Jets to Columbus in the 1950s, and had AstroTurf installed, which was removed by 1997. The stadium was owned and operated by the Franklin County government, located in the section of the city known as Franklinton.

Tenants and events

Over the years, Cooper Stadium was home to the

, a farm team for the

; the

Negro league The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

Columbus Blue Birds The Columbus Blue Birds were a professional Negro league baseball team based in Columbus, Ohio in 1931 and 1933. Founding Their name appears to have been derived from that of the Columbus Red Birds, the top-level minor league baseball team that ...

; the

Columbus Jets The Columbus Jets were a Minor League baseball team that played in Columbus, Ohio, from 1955 to 1970. The team moved from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada where they were known as the Ottawa Athletics. The Jets were a member of the Triple-A Internationa ...

; and, after the renovation was completed, the

. From 1939 through 1941, Cooper Stadium (then named Red Bird Stadium) was also home to the

Columbus Bullies The Columbus Bullies were a professional football team founded by Phil H. Bucklew in Columbus, Ohio in 1938. The Bullies started out as a member of the American Professional Football Association (APFA) in 1939. Later, in 1940, the Bullies joined ...

, two-time champions of the third American Football League. Cooper Stadium hosted the 1989

Triple-A All-Star Game The Triple-A All-Star Game was an annual baseball game held from 1988 to 2019 between professional players from the affiliated Triple-A leagues of Minor League Baseball. These leagues were the International League (IL) and Pacific Coast League ...

. The team of

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

-affiliated All-Stars defeated the team of

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league b ...

-affiliated All-Stars, 8–3. The stadium has also hosted a number of other events, such as

roller derby Roller derby is a roller skating contact sport played by two teams of fifteen members. Roller derby is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leagues worldwide, mostly in the United States. Game play consists of a series of short scrimmages (jam ...

s, music concerts (including

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whitford (guitar). Their style, which is rooted in blues ...

, Rush,

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

Garth Brooks Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American country music singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him popularity, particularly in the United States with success on the co ...

), professional wrestling (including Bobo Brazil, the Sheik, & Ali Baba) and hosted evangelist

Billy Graham William Franklin Graham Jr. (November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) was an American evangelist and an ordained Southern Baptist minister who became well known internationally in the late 1940s. He was a prominent evangelical Christi ...

. Cooper Stadium also hosted the

OHSAA The Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) is the governing body of athletic programs for junior and senior high schools in the state of Ohio. The OHSAA governs eligibility of student athletes, resolves disputes, organizes levels of compe ...

Ohio high-school boys baseball State Tournament.

Final baseball game

The Clippers moved from Cooper Stadium after the 2008 season to a new ballpark,

Huntington Park Huntington Park is a city in the Gateway Cities district of southeastern Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 58,114, of whom 97% are Hispanic/Latino and about half were born outside th ...

, which is located in the

Arena District The Arena District is a mixed-use planned development and neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio. The site was developed through a partnership between Nationwide Realty Investors, Ltd. (a subsidiary of Nationwide), the City of Columbus and private inves ...

in downtown Columbus. On September 1, 2008, the final game was played as the

Toledo Mud Hens The Toledo Mud Hens are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Toledo, Ohio, and play their home games at Fifth Third Field. A Mud Hens team has played in ...

defeated the Columbus Clippers in front of 16,770 fans, the third largest crowd in stadium history.

Racetrack conversion

As of May 1, 2008, a proposal to turn the site of Cooper Stadium into an auto racing facility was being considered. This is not a completely new use for the facility, as the parking lot south of the stadium has been used for

Sports Car Club of America The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting road racing, rallying, and autocross in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs many programs for both amateur and professional ...

and

autocross Autocross (also called "Solo", "Auto-x" or "Autoslalom") is a timed competition in which drivers navigate one at a time through a defined course on either a sealed or an unsealed surface. It is a form of motorsports that emphasizes safe competitio ...

racing as well as motorcycle training. On June 27, 2011, the Columbus City Council voted to rezone the site to allow for a racetrack to be built. On December 20, 2011, the Columbus Board of Zoning Adjustment approved a special permit by a vote of 4-0 that would clear the way for developer Arshot Investment to build a half-mile racetrack, automotive research and technology center. Arshot planned to spend up to $40 million to develop the 47-acre site. Rumored plans also included a $22 million overhaul to eventually become the OHSAA stadium for most outdoor events (baseball, football, soccer, lacrosse, etc.). This would then make Cooper Stadium a multi-purpose stadium. By April 2017 the first base side of the stadium had been demolished, leaving the third base side and bleachers still standing as what was to become the straightaway grandstands of the proposed race track. No other construction had been completed and according to an article appearing in ''

The Columbus Dispatch ''The Columbus Dispatch'' is a daily newspaper based in Columbus, Ohio. Its first issue was published on July 1, 1871, and it has been the only mainstream daily newspaper in the city since ''The Columbus Citizen-Journal'' ceased publication in 19 ...

'', the project appeared to be dead. As of September 2021, the former stadium site sits half demolished and abandoned.

References

External links

Cooper Stadium
at Abandoned

at Ball Parks of the Minor Leagues {{AFL III American Football League (1940) venues Baseball venues in Ohio Columbus Clippers Defunct baseball venues in the United States Defunct sports venues in Ohio Defunct minor league baseball venues Negro league baseball venues still standing Sports venues in Columbus, Ohio Franklinton (Columbus, Ohio) Endangered buildings in Columbus, Ohio