Former President George H. W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush were in Chattanooga 26 years ago to help usher in a new era of baseball in the city.
Both threw out ceremonial first pitches at the then-new, $10 million BellSouth Park (later renamed AT&T Field), home of the Chattanooga Lookouts minor league baseball team. BellSouth Park, which opened in 2000, replaced the city’s then-70-year-old Engel Stadium.
In the accompanying photo, from Chattanooga Times Free Press archives, the late Bush (who died in 2018) is seen entering the stadium with Frank Burke, one of the former owners of BellSouth Park.
In April, AT&T Field will be replaced by the new Erlanger Park as home of the Lookouts. The new ballpark, billed as a multi-use facility, is located in the South Broad District.