The Red Wings played in Rochester’s historic Silver Stadium (previously named Red Wing Stadium) between 1929 and 1996. Despite a 1980s renovation, Silver Stadium didn’t have any luxury suites, which was a drawback for the team’s revenue. Add that to the fact that many fans wanted a downtown ballpark, and the team opted for a downtown location across from Kodak’s world headquarters. Builders broke ground for Frontier Field in 1995 and two years later, Silver Stadium was demolished.
Though Frontier Field was built with baseball in mind, its first tenant wasn’t the Red Wings. The Rochester Raging Rhinos pro soccer club called Frontier Field home in 1996. A year later, the Red Wings began using the facility and the two teams shared it until 2005, when the Rhinos moved to another field in Rochester. Shortly after the Rhinos were out the door, the Red Wings renovated to make the park more baseball friendly. A 24-by-32-foot video scoreboard was added in left field for the 2006 season, and new grass was laid for 2008.
Frontier Field is 402 feet to straightaway center, 335 feet to left field and just 322 feet to right field, giving it somewhat of an irregularly shaped outfield. The home dugout is on the first base side and the stadium seats 10,868 for baseball. The facility’s video scoreboard is located in left-center field and a secondary scoreboard, featuring statistics and out-of-town results, is in right-center.