Union Station and pre-ballpark era In 1909, during the time when
West End Park was Houston's premier residential area, the Houston Belt and Terminal Railway Company commissioned the design of a new
union station for the city from
New York City–based architects
Warren and Wetmore. The location called for the demolition of several structures of Houston prominence.
Horace Baldwin Rice's residence and
Adath Yeshurun Congregation's synagogue among other structures were removed. , 1913 With an original estimated cost of US$1 million,
Union Station was constructed by the American Construction Company for an eventual total of five times that amount. Exterior walls were constructed of
granite,
limestone, and
terracotta, while the interior used an extensive amount of
marble. It was completed and opened on March 1, 1911. At the time, Houston, with 17 railways, was considered the main railroad hub of the
Southern United States. This is also evident by the
Seal of Houston, which prominently features a locomotive. Two more floors were added the following year. The station served as the main inter-city passenger terminal for Houston for over seven decades thereafter. Passenger rail declined greatly after
World War II, and the last regularly scheduled train, the
Lone Star, moved its service to Houston's current
Amtrak station on July 31, 1974. With this move, the building became only office space for the HB&T as well as the Missouri Pacific Railroad. On November 10, 1977, the building was added to the
National Register of Historic Places by the
National Park Service.
Planning and funding In August 1995, Astros owner
Drayton McLane, then leasing the
Astrodome from
Harris County, commented to the
Houston Chronicle that he was not in the market for a new ballpark. In reference to Pittsburgh's
Three Rivers Stadium and Cincinnati's
Riverfront Stadium, McLane noted, "... I remember when those were built in the 1970s and those were as good a stadiums as there were. They were the most modern stadiums in the world, and now they're saying they're all bad. That they can't make a go of it without a new stadium. It helps, but there are other things involved." Later in 1995, Houston's
NFL franchise and joint-tenant of the Astrodome, the
Houston Oilers, announced they were leaving for
Nashville in order to have a new stadium built for the team there. Citing a lack of adequate
luxury boxes, in October, Astros vice-president Bob McClaren claimed that renovations to the Astrodome would help increase revenue. Drayton McLane pointed toward Astrodome renovations as necessary, saying, "It's 30 years old and not a lot of money has been spent to remodel it." According to the organization, the team was in danger of being sold to a
Virginia businessman who was expected to move the Astros to the
Washington D.C. area because of poor revenue. In June 1996,
University of Houston alumnus,
BMC Software and
San Diego Padres owner,
John J. Moores, who wanted to own the next NFL franchise in Houston, met with Texas State Senator
Mario Gallegos, Jr., and other local
Hispanic leaders in regard to the future of a football-only Astrodome and a new baseball-only ballpark in
downtown Houston. Meanwhile, Harris County Judge
Robert Eckels pieced together a plan to build a new ballpark next to the Astrodome in the
Astrodomain. The Astros echoed the Astrodomain location sentiment because they believed construction time would be shorter. Eckels, who convinced then Mayor
Bob Lanier of the lack of viability for the ballpark in a downtown location, was quoted as saying, "They keep telling me about these miracles in other cities, but it doesn't work in Houston [...] If we are going to put this stadium some place, let's stick with a proven place." This plan was considered to be nearly finalized when the Astros and Harris County agreed to a US$250 million county-funded stadium whose overrun costs would be funded by the Astros. In August 1996, Houston's Union Station received a US$2 million grant from the
Texas Transportation Commission for renovation in a separate project. Plans for the new ballpark's location drastically changed by September mostly in response to
Enron Chairman
Kenneth Lay's input and pledge to substantially contribute to funding if placed downtown. It was at this time where the Union Station location was proposed by Lay. Upon an agreement among all of the leadership entities, the idea of a retractable roof stadium was confirmed for the new ballpark. A November
referendum was planned for Harris County residents to approve the deal. The Harris County referendum that took place on November 5, 1996, to help fund the ballpark passed by a narrow margin of 51% to 49%. In response to the referendum, during the
75th Texas Legislature Texas State Senator
John Whitmire of Houston sponsored a bill supported by five of the six area Harris County senators that would create the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority. With companion House Bill 92 authored by Houston-born Representative
Kim Brimer voted upon and adopted by both chambers, the authorization for creation of a sports authority was approved. It was signed into law by Governor
George W. Bush on June 2, 1997. The Harris County-Houston Sports Authority would assist in financing for the new ballpark as well as allow for renovation of the Astrodome by allowing for special county-wide taxation of rental cars, tickets, parking, and hotel use. In June 1997, with the ability to create a sports authority signed into law, concurrent votes of the Harris County Commissioners' Court and the
Houston City Council to establish the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority on effective September 1, 1997. Its chairman and 12 other directors were jointly appointed by the
Mayor of Houston and Harris County Judge. The institution remains in existence today. The ballpark was named "Enron Field" after a $100 million, 30-year naming rights deal was made with Enron on April 7, 1999. After the
Enron scandal of 2001, the Astros and the now-bankrupt Enron came to an agreement to end the deal and rename the stadium in February 2002.
Design and construction Early stadium sketches from Kansas City-based HOK Sport (now
Populous) using the working title "The Ballpark at Union Station" were released to the public on October 11, 1996, where Astros President
Tal Smith was open about his suggestions for the stadium including the location of the flagpole in center field and a traditional dirt path from the
pitcher's mound to
home plate. While the dirt path was not implemented, the flagpole idea became known as "
Tal's Hill" and remained a signature feature of the ballpark until 2016. The design of the new park integrated the former Union Station building's main concourse, reutilizing the space for a clubhouse, cafe, team store, and office space. A large model train was also included within the park's design as an homage to the station. In late 1997, it was announced that local
Brown & Root would manage construction of the stadium, while Populous with
Walter P. Moore would design it. The
electrification of the park's
retractable roof was developed by VAHLE, Inc. Groundbreaking for Enron Field was on October 30, 1997. Its groundbreaking ceremony was attended by
Enron CEO
Kenneth Lay, Houston Mayor
Bob Lanier, Astros owner
Drayton McLane, Harris County Judge Robert Eckles, Harris County Commissioner El Franco Lee, and Harris County-Houston Sports Authority Chairman
Jack Rains. Statues of longtime Astros players
Jeff Bagwell and
Craig Biggio are located in the exterior of the ballpark in a plaza area. The two former teammates are depicted playing baseball with each other. The plaza also displays
pennants for all Astros division and league championships, as well as their World Series titles. There are also several plaques to commemorate notable Astros and their achievements.
Opening and current use The ballpark was first inaugurated with a preseason game against the New York Yankees on March 30, 2000, with
naming rights sold to the Houston energy and financial trading company
Enron in a 30-year, $100 million deal. However, Astros management faced a public relations problem when the energy corporation went bankrupt in 2001 due to a
financial scandal. Quickly wanting to distance themselves from Enron, Astros ownership asked to prematurely end naming rights, but Enron refused. On February 5, 2002, Astros ownership filed a motion with the court overseeing the company's bankruptcy to force Enron to make an immediate decision on the matter. By February 27, the two entities agreed to end the naming rights, and settled with the Astros paying $2.1 million to Enron. Without a naming rights agreement in place, the ballpark became officially known as "Astros Field". The Astros sold naming rights of the ballpark in 2002 to locally based
Coca-Cola subsidiary
Minute Maid for $100 million over 30 years. Its official name was then changed to "Minute Maid Park". On January 1, 2025, the stadium was renamed to
Daikin Park after Japanese conglomerate
Daikin, which owns
Waller-based air conditioning manufacturer
Goodman Global, agreed to acquire the stadium's naming rights. The agreement is seen to run through 2039.
Alterations In 2004, the Astros launched
Wi-Fi throughout the ballpark, allowing fans to use the Internet while attending a game for a fee. In addition, the ballpark was the first major sports facility to use a separate video board exclusively for
closed captioning for the hearing impaired of PA system and video board content, rather than appearing along the bottom of the main board. In 2006, the
Chick-fil-A cows were unveiled on the foul poles, saying EAT MOR FOWL, and the cows have Astros caps on. If an Astros player hits the pole, all fans in attendance get a coupon for a free chicken sandwich from
Chick-fil-A.
Hunter Pence is the first and second Astros player to ever hit the left field "Fowl Pole" when he did it twice in the 2007 season.
Ty Wigginton became the third Astro to hit the left field pole on September 16, 2007.
Kazuo Matsui hit the right field foul pole on August 3, 2009, with a two-run homer in the sixth inning to beat the
Giants.
Carlos Lee hit the left field pole on July 28, 2010, giving the Astros an 8–1 win against the
Cubs. Two days later,
Jeff Keppinger hit the left field pole to help the Astros win, 5–0, against the
Brewers. In the 2023 Major League Baseball postseason (October 7th, 2023),
Yordan Alvarez hit a solo home run to the right field pole which made the game 6-4. After the 2008 season, the Astros' groundskeepers began installing of a new turfgrass playing surface at Minute Maid Park. The Astros also became one of the first to use the new
Chemgrass, later known as AstroTurf after its first well-publicized use at the Houston Astrodome in 1966. In honor of longtime Astros broadcaster
Milo Hamilton, the City of Houston officially renamed a portion of the Ballpark District to the "Hall of Fame District", and the portion of Hamilton Avenue that runs within that district to "Milo Hamilton Way" on April 8, 2009. For the 2011 season, the park added a large
Daktronics HD screen nicknamed "El Grande" replacing the original one in right field. At high and wide, it is the fourth largest scoreboard in Major League Baseball, behind
T-Mobile Park (home of the
Seattle Mariners),
Progressive Field (home of the
Cleveland Guardians), and
Kaufmann Stadium (home of the
Kansas City Royals). The old screen was taken out and replaced by billboards. Additionally, a smaller HD screen was added on the far left field wall. The ring of advertisement screens around the park were replaced in favor of HD ribbon boards. More than of paint were used and over 1,000 signs were replaced. In June 2015 the Astros announced Tal's Hill would be removed in a major renovation project during the 2015-2016 offseason, to be replaced with additional seating, concessions, and escalators for fans. This would result in center field dimensions of 436 feet (then the longest in MLB) being reduced to 409 feet. In addition, seating sections 256, 257, and 258 in the outfield mezzanine would be removed. However, the project had to be postponed due to the Astros' unexpected American League Wild Card championship and subsequent postseason appearance, along with the stadium's offseason event schedule. The renovation was completed during the 2016-2017 offseason. The flagpoles became out of play. In April 2022, Daikin Park, then Minute Maid Park, received
Amazon's "Just Walk Out" technology for two of its concession stands, becoming the first MLB stadium to incorporate
cashierless stores.
Major events • On October 9, 2005, Minute Maid Park hosted the then-longest postseason game in
Major League Baseball history, both in terms of time and number of innings. The Astros defeated the
Atlanta Braves 7–6 in a game lasting 18 innings, which took 5 hours and 50 minutes to play. The time record was beaten by Game 3 of the
2018 World Series, which went 18 innings and lasted 7 hours and 20 minutes. • On October 25, 2005, Minute Maid Park hosted the first
World Series game ever played in Texas, and the longest World Series game ever played, which the Astros lost to the eventual World Series champion
Chicago White Sox 7–5 in 14 innings; this game lasted 5 hours and 41 minutes. The following night, the White Sox won their third title—and first in
88 years—at Minute Maid Park. • On September 30, 2007, in
Craig Biggio's last game of his career, Minute Maid Park hit the highest attendance in its 8-year history by selling 43,823 tickets, 107% of its capacity. • On April 5, 2010, Opening Day of 2010, Minute Maid Park surpassed its highest attendance total once again by selling 43,836 tickets, 13 more tickets than its previous record. • The Astros transferred to the American League for the 2013 season, resulting in the
designated hitter rule coming into effect at Minute Maid Park. The last pitcher to bat at an MLB game in Houston was Astros pitcher
Bud Norris until May 11, 2021, when
Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels started on the mound and batted second in the lineup. • In his third start as an Astro, pitcher
Mike Fiers threw the stadium's first
no-hitter in a 3–0 victory over the
Los Angeles Dodgers on August 21, 2015. • In late October 2017 the Astros hosted three
World Series games against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Astros would go on to win the 2017 World Series, winning 2 of 3 games in Houston and 2 of 4 games in Los Angeles. • In late October 2019, the Astros hosted four games of the
World Series versus the
Washington Nationals. While the Astros won all three away games, they lost all four games played at Minute Maid Park. • It was one of two hosts (
Globe Life Field being the other) for the
2020 NLDS.
Atlanta swept
Miami 3–0 to advance to the NLCS. • Three games of the
2021 World Series were held at Minute Maid Park, with the Braves winning Games 1 and 6 (they also won Games 3 and 4 at
Truist Park in Atlanta) to claim their fourth World Series championship. Houston's only home victory came in Game 2. • Games 1, 2 and 6 of the
2022 World Series were held at Minute Maid Park. The Astros won their second World Series championship in Game 6, marking the third time a World Series championship was hoisted at the park and the first time the Astros won on their home field. Houston also won Game 2, as well as two of three games at
Citizens Bank Park against the
Philadelphia Phillies. • All games in
Pool B and two
quarterfinal games of the
2026 World Baseball Classic took place at the stadium. ==Non-baseball events==