By Neil Offen
noffen@heraldsun.com; 419-6646
DURHAM -- There were free hot dogs -- 6,000 of them -- popcorn, the singing of the national anthem with cheers right at the end of the last verse, and even baseball, sort of.
Welcome back, Durham Athletic Park.
On a perfect hot summer day for baseball, the newly refurbished old ballpark held its grand opening Saturday and showed off its impeccably manicured field, its new box seats, its spiffy paint jobs and its improved bathrooms, among much else.
"Isn't it beautiful?" asked Durham City Council member Cora Cole-McFadden, not really waiting for or expecting an answer. "This was really a wise investment."
The investment, around $5.5 million in bond money approved by voters in 2005, was to prepare the DAP to serve as a business operations training facility for Minor League Baseball, which will operate the park under an agreement with the city. The renovated stadium also will serve as the home field for the N.C. Central University and Durham School of the Arts baseball teams, as well as host some city events, like this fall's Bull Durham Blues Festival and World Beer Festival.
Several hundred local residents showed up for the grand opening, which included a celebrity softball game, a mascot Olympics, a kids moonwalk and several prize raffles. And almost all who came seemed to approve of the improvements made to the old ballpark.
"I wished they could have kept the outfield stands, and they still had the bull, but it really looks terrific," said Chuck Darsie, wearing a Durham Bulls cap and a blue New York Yankees No. 4 Lou Gehrig jersey. "I used to come here a lot, to see the Bulls play and my son used to volunteer here. They've really done a great job with it."
Darsie's friend, Jerry Gerding, had attended Durham Bulls games at the old DAP -- rebuilt in 1939 from the original stadium destroyed by fire -- for many years. "I remember seeing the best play I ever saw right here," Gerding said. "David Justice went full out to catch a line drive in left field. It was incredible. Best play I ever saw."
Wilson Iminephro had never seen a game at the old ballpark -- or anywhere else.
"I'm just starting to learn about baseball," said the Durham resident and native of Nigeria. "I've seen it a little bit on television. That's why I came out today. But I did not know how beautiful the field could look. It is just gorgeous, so inviting."
And, pointed out Darsie, "the bathrooms are a lot better now. They were not good at the old place."
Durham Mayor Bill Bell -- who, in a dark suit but tie-less, did not take part in the celebrity softball game -- did tell the crowd that the re-opening of the park was "a really important day, a day we've looked forward to for many years." The DAP, Bell said, was "transformed now."
So, he told the enthusiastic crowd, "have a good time. Eat a lot of food. Come back."
