A favorite American pastime, baseball has a way of bringing people together. However, the Hoover Metropolitan Stadium is proving it doesn’t take a bat and ball to attract a crowd.

Since being built in 1988, the Hoover Met has welcomed a variety of athletes and crowds. The Birmingham Barons, Hoover High School’s football team, SEC Baseball Tournament players, NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship teams, volleyball athletes, marching band members and even former-Baron Michael Jordan have all walked the field at the Hoover Met.

The stadium, which holds 10,500 people, has also seen its share of updates in the past 26 years, says Erin Colbaugh, events coordinator for Hoover.

“It provides a place for the city to host a variety of events, which serves as a gathering place for friends and family in a safe environment,” she says. “We’re able to bring in events that residents and people in the area don’t normally go to because it’s here in our city.”

To read more about the Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, check out the April 2014 issue of Hoover’s Magazine. Find your copy here.