Fifth Third Ballpark becomes smoke-free facility
Fans who wish to smoke while visiting the ballpark may do so outside the facility, in designated smoking areas outside each of the three main gates. Fans will need to show their ticket stub in order to re-enter the facility. This smoking policy will apply not only to Whitecaps games but to all events held at Fifth Third Ballpark.
In the past, fans have been allowed to smoke in designated smoking areas just beyond the ends of the first-base and third-base covered concourse. Smoking has never been allowed in the seating areas, and was banned from underneath the covered concourse after the team's first season in 1994.
Lew Chamberlin, president and C.E.O. of the Whitecaps, said the team is simply recognizing what the majority of its fans want.
"Smoke-free facilities are definitely the trend with businesses in this day and age," Chamberlin said. "We thought, for the comfort and health of our fans, that this was the proper time to make the move. Most public sports facilities are now non-smoking, and certainly other facilities in our market, such as Van Andel Arena and Grand Valley's athletic facilities, are smoke-free as well."
Most Major League and Minor League ballparks, as well as other professional sports arenas and college athletic facilities, are now smoke-free. The Oakland A's paved the way to smoke-free stadiums in April of 1991 when the A's stadium became the first outdoor arena to ban smoking. Many of the arena and stadium bans, such as Michigan State University's and the University of Michigan's, are more strict than the Whitecaps' ban because they prohibit re-entry to the facilities without the purchase of a new ticket for anyone who leaves the facility to smoke or for any other reason.
Since the Surgeon General's June 2006 report regarding the risks of second-hand smoking, stating that no level of exposure was risk-free, many states and cities have adopted smoking bans; in fact, Michigan is one of just 14 states remaining that does not have a statewide smoking ban. Proposals failed twice in 2008 when the Michigan legislature adjourned for the session without adopting any of the differing versions of the no-smoking law between the state Senate and House. In the city of Grand Rapids, a November 2006 law banned smoking in all enclosed workplaces, excluding bars and restaurants, and also banned smoking within 10 feet from a public building. Comstock Park, where Fifth Third Ballpark is located, currently has no such requirement.
The 2009 Whitecaps baseball season begins on Thursday, April 9 at home against South Bend at 6:35 p.m. Season, group tickets and individual tickets are now on sale and can be purchased by calling the Whitecaps front office at 616-784-4131 or visiting www.whitecapsbaseball.com.