page_title: Busch Stadium
section_title: Planning
hierarchical_section_title: Busch Stadium / History / Planning
caption_attribution_description: English: Old Busch Stadium destroyed
context_page_description: Busch Stadium, also referred to informally as "New Busch Stadium" or "Busch Stadium III", is a baseball park located in St. Louis, Missouri, the home of the St. Louis Cardinals, the city's Major League Baseball franchise. The stadium has a seating capacity of 44,494, and contains 3,706 club seats and 61 luxury suites. It replaced Busch Memorial Stadium and occupies a portion of that stadium's former footprint. A commercial area, dubbed Ballpark Village, was built adjacent to the stadium over the remainder of the former stadium's footprint.
  The stadium opened on April 4, 2006 with an exhibition between the minor league Memphis Redbirds and Springfield Cardinals, both affiliates of the St. Louis Cardinals, which Springfield won 5-3 with right-hander Mike Parisi recording the first win. The first official major league game occurred on April 10, 2006 as the Cardinals defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 6–4 behind an Albert Pujols home run and winning pitcher Mark Mulder.
  The highest attendance for a sports event other than baseball was on May 23, 2013, when 48,263 people watched Chelsea Football Club and Manchester City Football Club play a friendly match.
context_section_description: In 1995, St. Louis Cardinals team ownership began to lobby for a new ballpark in downtown St. Louis, but the team was unable to acquire funding for the project for several years. In June 2001, the Missouri state government signed a contract with the team, proposing a ballpark in downtown St. Louis, but a subsequent funding bill was struck down in May 2002, leaving the saga open.  Team owners sought a location near Madison, Illinois, adjacent to Gateway International Raceway, until the city of St. Louis drafted a financing plan for the team to construct the new stadium in downtown St. Louis.  The stadium was financed through private bonds, bank loans, a long-term loan from St. Louis County, and money from the team owners. The development, including the Ballpark Village was projected to cost approximately $665 million with the stadium alone costing $365 million.
caption: Busch Stadium II in the process of being torn down.
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