Daikin Park, Baseball stadium in Downtown Houston, United States
Daikin Park is a retractable roof baseball stadium in Downtown Houston with a natural grass field, opened in 2000 as the Astros' home. Its exterior incorporates the 1911 Union Station, built of granite, limestone and terracotta, whose footprint forced a shallow left field and a left-center outfield without a bulge. The roof is carried on green steel trusses above the seating, and dark green padded walls enclose the field.
The stadium opened in March 2000 as a replacement for the Astrodome, bringing open air baseball back to Houston. The facility first carried the name Enron Field but was renamed after the energy company collapsed.
A steam locomotive replica sits 27.4 metres above left-center field, a nod to the Union Station site; its whistle sounds and it runs about 244 metres of track after Astros home runs. Its tender once carried oranges for Minute Maid; since the Daikin renaming it holds 25 large baseballs marking the park's 25 years.
The entrance sits on Crawford Street in central Houston, a few blocks from downtown towers and business districts. Parking lots surround the stadium, and the METRORail stops within walking distance at the Convention District station.
The retractable roof weighs over 3000 tons and can fully open or close in less than 20 minutes. When closed, the glass roof allows daylight inside, letting the grass grow even while protected from summer heat.
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