Tulsa, OK - A ballpark designed by Crafton Tull Sparks was recently honored with two awards from Ballpark Digest. QuikTrip Park at Grand Prairie tied for the "Best New Ballpark" in 2008. The park includes permanent seating for 5,445 fans, a 6,000 square-foot sports bar and restaurant beyond the left-field fence, an adult party deck overlooking the visitor’s bullpen, a cigar bar, a swimming pool overlooking the right-field wall, and a 17,000 square-foot Wide World of Parks Kids Zone, which includes a rock-climbing wall, a miniature golf course and a wiffle-ball field, among other attractions. In addition to the Grand Prairie AirHogs’ 48 home games during the regular season, numerous other concerts, festivals and community activities will be held at the stadium throughout the year.
The new ballpark also won "Best Ballpark Innovations" for having the most unique swimming pool in a ballpark. They liked the location of the pool out into right field instead of just the normal location outside the home-run fence. The Heliport is a semicircular group area in right field featuring a four-foot-deep pool (complete with lifeguard), plenty of lounge seating, and a dedicated concession stand. Crafton Tull Sparks provided architecture, engineering, interior design, landscape architecture, and construction administration services for the stadium.
Grand Prairie residents voted in 2007 to fund the ballpark with a 1/8 cent sales tax. The city-owned facility is home to a privately owned American Association of Professional Baseball team, the Grand Prairie AirHogs. The stadium’s design is based on an aeronautical theme due to Grand Prairie’s aviation history. AirHogs is a World War II term for the pilots who loved to fly so much they "hogged the air."
Crafton Tull Sparks has 335 employees with offices in Conway, AR, Little Rock, AR, Oklahoma City, OK, Rogers, AR, Russellville, AR, Tulsa, OK and Wichita, KS. Founded in 1963, they provide architectural, engineering, interior design, landscape architecture, planning, and surveying services across the nation.