Red Sox unveil new "Coca-Cola Corner" at Fenway
The Boston Red Sox and the Coca-Cola Co. unveiled the "Coca-Cola Corner," a new section of 412 seats in Fenway Park that will be topped with a large illuminated sign above the new section.
The "family friendly" section, which will include picnic tables, will be located on the State Street Pavilion upper level, near where the left-field foul line meets the Green Monster, the Red Sox said. The seats will be available at $75 each.
The section will also include space for 100 standing-room patrons at $25 per ticket.
The Coca-Cola Corner was previously occupied by luxury suites that were built for the 1999 All-Star Game, said Sam Kennedy, Red Sox executive vice president and chief sales and marketing officer.
Luxury suites in both that area and in other parts of the park are being removed from Fenway as part of efforts to offer more seats that cost under $100 this season, Kennedy said.
Collectively, those luxury suites could accommodate about 120 people; by removing those suites as well as by other measures, Kennedy said the Red Sox will be able to offer about 960 additional tickets this season when standing room space is included.
Fenway's capacity for night games this season will be 38,888 versus 37,925 last season, Kennedy said.
Last month, meanwhile, three 25-foot Coke bottles were removed from the left-field light tower as part of an effort to restore the light towers to their original appearance, the Red Sox said. The bottles were first installed at Fenway in 1997.
With those bottles gone, the Coca-Cola Corner will be topped with a sign nearly 43 feet long and just over 12 feet high, the Red Sox said; the sign will feature 1,059 light-emitting diodes, or LED lights, that will "scroll through the iconic Coca-Cola logo," reminiscent of a sign that stood along Storrow Drive for more than 40 years.
The sign will be installed before Opening Day 2008, the Sox said. The Coca-Cola Corner is part of an extended and expanded sponsor relationship with Coca-Cola, an Atlanta-based beverage company.
Additional improvements planned for the ballpark this year include scoreboards on the EMC Club level to help fans with limited views of the center-field and left-field scoreboards; a new Bleacher Bar & Grill, a year-round restaurant in center field, eight new private suites, waterproofing in the bleachers area, and structural upgrades.
The New York Times Co., parent of The Boston Globe and Boston.com, holds a 17 percent stake in the company that owns the Red Sox.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
