Yankee Stadium Facade by Allen Beatty

Yankee Stadium Facade

One of the most distinguishing characteristics of Yankee Stadium is the "facade", a white frieze that runs along the bleacher billboards and scoreboard.

The facade was an addition made by Osborn Engineering, when the owners of the Yankees asked that the stadium be given "an air of dignity."

So the Osborn Engineering Company erected what was known originally as a frieze. Somewhere along the way it took on the term of facade, and most people know it today as the facade.", according to Yankee Stadium tour guide Tony Morante.

It originally ran around the roof of the grandstand's upper deck. This original facade was made of copper, and over the course of time, developed a patina (just like the Statue of Liberty). It was painted white in the mid-1960s.

When the stadium was renovated in the 1970s, 10 rows were added to the top of upper deck, and the support columns were removed. The original roof had to be removed; the facade was removed and sold as scrap. A smaller, concrete version was erected above the scoreboards and billboards behind the bleachers. In the new stadium, the facade was replicated in its original position along the roof of the upper deck, although now constructed of steel painted white. It does not cantilever out over the upper deck as much as the original did.

The iconic facade is employed in graphics for the YES Network and was incorporated into the logo for the 2008 All-Star Game held at the Stadium.

The term "facade" is actually a misnomer. The scalloped arches are actually a frieze, and it was originally known as such. It is unknown when or where the term "facade" came into use, but it has become the more common name, used by fans, broadcasters, and personnel. With the move to the new stadium, the organization has made a move to return to the term "frieze", exclusively using it in public statements and literature.

However, fans still refer to it as the "The Facade."