Fenway Park Timeline

I chose to research Fenway Park after switching my topic from Vacation Towns to stadiums because I found that stadiums interested me more. The reason I chose Fenway was because of the fact that it is so historic, and it is a symbol for the city of Boston. I also believe that the stadium is also a cultural artifact for the city, and it is more than just a stadium that baseball is played in. First of all, Fenway has been home to sports other than baseball such as hockey, Football, soccer, and others. it is also a place where the people of Boston are able to come together. The best example of this would be the 2013 World Series run. After the bombings of the Boston Marathon in 2013, the Red Sox and the city of Boston rallied together and coined the term “Boston Strong”, and the team and city were able to become stronger, rebuild, and remember those who were lost during this tragic event. The team would hang a jersey with the number 617, the Boston area code, and the words “Boston Strong, in the dugout for the rest of the season. This was topped off at the end of the season with a championship run, and during the championship parade, Red Sox outfielder Johnny Gomes placed the World Series trophy on the Finish Line that is painted on the street at Copley Square, in honor of those lost during the tragic event.

While putting this timeline together, I tried to focus on the history of Fenway as a whole, and really did not want to leave any important events out. This is because of the fact that the history is not too long, and I was able to fit most of the critical events into this timeline. Overall, I think that Fenway Park has a very deep history and it is a place that defines the city of Boston through athletics and culture. It has defined the neighborhood it resides in, and has been apart of the change that has been seen there as well. The neighborhood has changed over the years, and has seen improvements as the Red Sox became a bigger and bigger part of the city of Boston.

What I found particularly interesting about the history of Fenway Park, was that there had been some talk of tearing the ballpark down in the late 1990’s, as it had become run down and old. But, with new ownership, there was a $300 million revitalization project that was put in place to keep the Red Sox in their historical home. Now, Fenway Park is recognized as a historical landmark in the city of Boston, and it is a place where people can go to tour or see a game, and remember the history of Boston in this interactive “museum” of sorts.

Overall, I think that stadiums are interesting because they are symbols for cities in the sense of sport, but also culture. They are places where communities come together and interact, and they are places where culture is defined in certain places. Boston would not be the same without Fenway Park, as it is one of the Cities defining cultural locations.

Works Cited:

Borer, Michael Ian. “Important Places and Their Public Faces: Understanding Fenway Park as a Public Symbol.” The Journal of Popular Culture, Wiley/Blackwell (10.1111), 21 Mar. 2006, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1540-5931.2006.00229.x.