Type A funds were used to construct Whataburger Field. It pays for the debt service on a bond issuance of $24,565,000 made in April 2004. It pays for the debt service, principal and interest, on the loan, with the average annual debt payment being $2,286,679. The bonds will be paid in 2018. The lease contract for Whataburger Field is between the Corpus Christi Hooks and the City.
Whataburger Field was tabbed by Minor League News as the best Minor League venue in North America in 2008 and in 2009. It features 5,050 fixed seats, 19 luxury suites, and two outfield berm areas to accommodate nearly 2,000 fans. In 2014, a 972-square foot video board was installed above the scoreboard. The Hooks are the Double-A farm team of the Houston Astros and owned by their parent club. Corpus Christi has finished among the Top 6 clubs in Double-A attendance each season since the ballpark opened in 2005. Among the 160 domestic minor league teams, the Hooks have consistently ranked in the Top 30. From 2005-14, the team drew 4,383,825. The ballpark occupies land once dominated by cotton warehouses at the Port of Corpus Christi. Its architectural attributes, from mammoth wood beams to corrugated siding, pay tribute to the site’s heritage. The scoreboard in left-center field is framed by antique cotton presses, one which dates to the 1920s. During games, large oceangoing vessels and their tiny tugboat escorts navigate the port’s ship channel, which runs behind the stadium compound. Ships clear the iconic Harbor Bridge (1959), a magnificent span for Highway 181, before churning out to the Gulf of Mexico through Corpus Christi Bay.
