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Baseball stadium in Pennsylvania, U. S.

FirstEnergy Stadium is a 10,000 seat baseball only stadium in Reading, Pennsylvania, that hosted its first regular season baseball game in 1951. The park is home to the Reading Fightin Phils of the Eastern League. It was voted the second best place to see a baseball game by Minor League News in 2006. It is also the first ballpark to ever receive the annual Digital Ballparks. com Ballpark Of The Year Award, which it was awarded in 2002. It is the first American baseball stadium to reach a total attendance of ten million without ever serving a team higher than AA.

On March 28, 1945, Reading City Council voted unanimously to purchase 27 acres of ground known as Cathedral Heights at a cost of $64,491 for the purpose of building a municipal stadium. In 1947 the grading of the land began and by 1949 the initial stages of construction could be seen. With a final price tag of $656,674, the stadium was completed on April 15, 1951. Named in honor of U. S. military personnel who died while serving, Reading Municipal Memorial Stadium was dedicated on July 15 that same year. The stadium was originally known as Reading Municipal Memorial Stadium before corporate sponsorship resulted in its current name. Mike Schmidt made his professional debut at the ballpark on June 17, 1971, in an exhibition game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Reading Phillies. The Phillies had signed Schmidt on June 11. In the exhibition game, Schmidt played the whole game at shortstop for the Phillies and hit the game winning home run against Reading. On July 13, 1977, The Reading Municipal Stadium hosted a concert by the band Chicago. To date, this was the only major entertainment event held at the 10,000 seat facility. Prior to Municipal Stadium, Reading's professional baseball teams played at Lauer's Park.

In January 1989, Municipal Stadium experienced its first significant improvement in its then 36 year history. The wooden bench seating in the main grandstand was replaced by individual seats, and a roof was erected to cover 1,500 of those seats. The press box was also expanded as a part of the project, which cost more than $500,000. The third base picnic area was built between the 1989 and 1990 season at a cost of $125,000. The right field food court was started and completed during the 1991–1992 off season at a cost of $45,000. Following the 1993 season, a batting tunnel was built behind the third base bleachers. The left field deck was also constructed during that off season, which provided the stadium with its first "home run" seats and a bar that overlooked the field. In 1996, 483 individual seats and eight private boxes were added to the deck.