Golden Park

Historic Golden Park in Columbus, Georgia is a classic minor league baseball park. Home to many Southern League and South Atlantic League teams over the years, it was built in 1926 and was still hosting pro baseball over 80 years later. After extensive renovations in 1996 (when the park played host to softball in the 1996 Olympics), the park still has its covered grandstand, though much of the covered seating was taken up by the newly constructed luxury boxes. The box and reserved seating are individual folding chairs, while the general admission seating is metal benches. A large concourse featuring concession stands and a small gift store is located underneath the seating areas. Concessions are limited in variety but prices are reasonable. The exterior of the ballpark has a red brick façade and the numerous sidewalks are well landscaped. Owned by the City of Columbus, the park seats 5,000. Park dimensions are: left field - 330 feet; center field - 415 feet; right field - 330 feet.

When the Columbus Catfish left town after the 2008 season to become the Bowling Green Hot Rods, the ballpark was left without a professional baseball tenant. They were replaced by a summer collegiate team, the Columbus Chatt-a-Hoots of the Sunbelt Baseball League, later joined by the Chattahoochee Monsters of the same league.

In 2023, Columbus mayor Skip Henderson asked the city council to adopt a resolution giving support to efforts to bring a new professional team to the ballpark and engage in discussions with Diamond Baseball Holdings towards that goal. However, given new ballpark standards adopted since the Catfish left town, such a move would likely require extensive upgrades to the venerable facility.

Further Reading

• Tim Chitwood (Columbus Ledger-Enquirer): "Columbus mayor seeks council support for minor league baseball’s return to Golden Park", Yahoo! News, May 23, 2023. [1]