In the late 1980s, the firm installed lights at Wrigley Field in Chicago-the last major league ballpark with no nighttime games. Osborn’s work wasn’t always so warmly received, however. “I have not heard one unfavorable comment to date, and don’t think that we ever will,” Yawkey wrote. Tom Yawkey, who owned the Red Sox at the time, sent Osborn a letter thanking the engineers for their work. The design also included the imposing 37-foot-high left-field wall now known as the Green Monster. After a series of fires destroyed the wooden bleachers in the late 1920s, Osborn designed a steel and concrete grandstand for the left-field line in 1934. Osborn also had a major role in making Boston’s Fenway Park what it is today. Because the work was done in pen, mistakes were costly. It was painstaking work, assisted by the use of stencils and templates, but largely done freehand. The plans and blueprints for these stadiums were works of art, says Kurt Rim, Osborn’s CEO emeritus. By 1928, Osborn had designed 75 ballparks around the country, including Fenway Park in Boston, Comiskey Park in Chicago, and the football stadium at the University of Notre Dame. But the growing popularity of spectator sports created new opportunities. Osborn Engineering, the firm that built it, was founded in 1892 and got its start on bridges, roadways, and other civil engineering projects. Between opening day in 1923 and its demolition in 2009, the stadium became an icon of American sports architecture, home to baseball greats from Babe Ruth to Derek Jeter, and 26 World Series championship teams. It may have been known as “The House That Ruth Built,” but the original Yankee Stadium was actually built by an engineering company from Cleveland.
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