Camden Yards Sports Complex

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Camden Yards Sports Complex

Aerial view, with Oriole Park at top and M&T Bank Stadium at bottom
Address	Baltimore, Maryland United States
Coordinates	39°16′52″N 76°37′16″W / 39.281°N 76.621°W / 39.281; -76.621
Facilities	Oriole Park at Camden Yards M&T Bank Stadium
Owner	Maryland Stadium Authority
Tenants
Baltimore Ravens (NFL) Baltimore Orioles (MLB)

The Camden Yards Sports Complex is located in the center of Baltimore, Maryland. The complex is composed of multiple buildings and stadiums including Oriole Park at Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium. The two stadiums are home to the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball and the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League. The Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum is located approximately two blocks from the main entrance of Camden Yards at Eutaw Street. The complex also features the original Camden Station which formerly housed the Sports Legends Museum at Camden Yards and Geppi's Entertainment Museum. In addition to the sports facilities, it is also a location for community events such as the Dew Tour's Panasonic Open in June 2007 and 2008, the Baltimore Marathon, and the African American Festival which is held every year.^[1]

M&T Bank Stadium is home to the Baltimore Ravens football franchise located at 1101 Russell Street. The Ravens franchise returned the NFL to Baltimore in 1996 when the Cleveland Browns announced their intention to move.^[2] The stadium was completed in 1998 at an estimated cost of $220 million.^[3] The stadium itself is 185 ft. high. It hosts numerous concerts and sporting events like the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship (2003, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2014), a Tottenham vs. Liverpool friendly (2012), the CONCACAF Gold Cup Quarterfinals (2013, 2015), U2 (2011), Jay-Z (2013, 2014), and Billy Joel (2015).^[4] The stadium is also LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certified, being the first existing outdoor professional sports facility in the United States to do so.^[4] The stadium offers scenic views of the Baltimore city skyline. There are 71,008 available seats, much more than its sister ballpark, Oriole Park. There are also 8,196 club seats located in 128 different suites. Each suite holds between 20 and 24 people and offers VIP parking, access to club lounges, fully staffed bars, concierge services, private restrooms, personal wait staff, and scenic views of downtown Baltimore.^[4]

Babe Ruth was born in 1895 to parents George Sr. and Catherine in a house near the site of Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore. ^[5] His childhood home is located in the old Ridgley's Delight neighborhood close to the Inner Harbor. In the late 1960’s, a local group of Babe Ruth fans and Baltimore historians took action to have the city support a museum in Babe's honor, after almost being demolished. A non-profit museum opened to the public in 1974 and is governed by the Babe Ruth Birthplace Foundation, Inc.^[6]

The original Camden Station was a stop on the B&O Railroad. Constructed between 1856 and 1857, this railroad stop served both passenger and freight trains. President Abraham Lincoln traveled through Camden Station on his way to his inauguration. His body traveled through the station when his funeral train made its first stop in Baltimore.^[7]

Since being closed in the 1980s, the Sports Legend Museum occupied the space starting in 2005, with the hopes of maintaining and commemorating the historic significance of Maryland's past and present sports teams. It was privately owned by The Babe Ruth Birthplace Foundation until its closure on October 12, 2015.^[8] The Sports Legends Museum is seeking a new location (in Baltimore) in order to preserve the history and legacy of Babe Ruth, the Baltimore's Orioles, Ravens, and Colts, as well as local and regional sports at the amateur, collegiate and professional levels. The museum's collection can be priced at over $3.2 million in sport memorabilia. The recent tenant in Camden Station is Geppi's Entertainment Museum, which closed on June 3, 2018.^[9] The Camden Station is currently left vacant.^[10]

The Dew Tour has two separate events: summer and winter. The Dew Tour gives street skiers, skaters, snowboarders, etc., the chance to participate with mainstream contenders. This is a chance that street contenders have not had before, and it gives skiers a chance to participate in the Winter Olympics.^[11] The Panasonic Dew Tour held in 2007 offered a total of $2.5 million in prizes.^[12]

The Camden Yards Sports Complex is home of the Baltimore Marathon, which is arguably "one of the best races on the east coast." In 2016, the event started on October 15 and featured a variety of different races. The Baltimore Marathon includes the full marathon, half marathon, team relay, 5K, kid's fun run, and the BaltiMORON-a-Thon. People of all ages can participate in specific events (according to age) and prices range from $15 to $280.^[13] The race began in 2001, and still follows the same course as the original race. It begins at Oriole Park at Camden Yards then winds its way through the streets of Baltimore passing by the Inner Harbor, Fells Point, Patterson Park, and many other sites in the city, ending in the same spot it began. The race is a total of 26.219 miles long. At the finish line in 2012, both the male and female winners received a prize of $25,000. The race has greatly evolved from the first Maryland Marathon in 1973.

The Camden Yards Sports Complex is also home to the African American Festival (or Afram).^[14] The African American Festival is a social gathering of the people of Baltimore where they come to celebrate African American music and culture. The festival is filled with various artists including poets, singers, rappers, entrepreneurs and other performers. The African American Festival has been taking place since 1976 and has featured appearances from people such as Ray Lewis, Vivica A. Fox, Elise Neal, Traci Braxton, the rapper Common, and much more. There is fun and games for children to participate in and everyone enjoys the family-oriented vibe. It is one of the largest cultural events on the east coast and welcomes more than 350,000 people annually every summer. There is usually more than 150 vendors and two stages for entertainment.^[15] The African American Festival is a huge attraction each year.^[16]