COOKIE CUTTER STADIUM

'Cookie cutter stadiums' are stadiums built primarily in the 1960s and 1970s in the United States, designed for use by multiple teams playing baseball, American football, soccer, and, in some cases, basketball. They have also been called "concrete donuts".
Most of these stadiums were open-air, but some were domed. Nearly all, at one time, had Astroturf playing surfaces. They had a reputation for looking pretty much identical, hence the nickname. All exhibited a round (or rounded-square) grandstand design with convertible lower bowl seats and similar field layouts, which were typically symmetrical when in baseball configuration.
From a spectator standpoint, their circular nature made them ideal for ''none'' of the sports contained within them. For baseball, many of the lower-level boxes were set back from the field because they swiveled into position for football and soccer, while the upper-level seats were as far as 600 feet from the plate. For football, the seats nearest the field were set farther back than at football-only stadiums to accommodate the larger baseball field. It is fair to say that they "seemed like a good idea at the time", as most initial public comments about them were neutral at worst. It was a few years later, as their newness wore off, that the criticisms began to mount.
During the 1990s and 2000s, they have been demolished one by one and replaced with "retro" style ballparks, which themselves have been criticized^[1] for being clones of the original "retro" park, Camden Yards in Baltimore.
To date, most of the original cookie cutters have been demolished. Qualcomm Stadium and Candlestick Park have been retrofitted as football-only stadiums. The New York Mets will be moving to Citi Field in 2009, making Shea Stadium the next cookie cutter to be demolished. RFK Stadium, the current home for the Washington Nationals, will be emptied after the Nationals move into their new stadium, Nationals Ballpark, after the 2007 season. RFK Stadium is claimed as one of the original cookie-cutters. But unlike the others, it was originally natural grass and has remained that way for its entire existence. The stadium has to be converted between its baseball and soccer/football configurations by raising/lowering the pitcher's mound and laying/removing sod over the infield clay, in addition to shifting a section of bleachers with a rail system.
Among the cookie-cutter domes, the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana, will be demolished in 2008 after the Indianapolis Colts move into a new retractable roof stadium, Lucas Oil Stadium. The Minnesota Twins are set to move out of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and into the new Twins Ballpark by 2010, though the Minnesota Vikings do not yet have an official stadium plan approved.
Cinergy Field and Busch Memorial Stadium were both modified into baseball-only facilities toward the end of their runs, and both were eventually converted to natural grass fields as well. Cinergy Field was actually partially-demolished before the 2001 baseball season to make room for its successor, Great American Ball Park, opening up its outfield side. Busch Memorial had to be demolished on November 5, 2005, immediately after the Cardinals season ended, so that its successor, the third Busch Stadium, could be finished. The new Busch was finished in time for Opening Day 2006.

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References

1. Kick Out the Sports! Bob Cook