The club originally played at South Side Park, south of the downtown area. When that park burned, a new park was built on the north side, near the Wake Forest University campus and the RJR plant, and named Ernie Shore Field in honor of the former major leaguer who had led the fund drive for the new ballpark. Opened in 1956, Ernie Shore Field seats 6,000 fans. BB&T Ballpark was hoped to be completed for the 2009 season, or sometime within the season, but construction came to a halt due to a lack of funding. Meanwhile, Ernie Shore Field had been sold to Wake Forest and renamed as Gene Hooks Field at Wake Forest Baseball Park, compelling the Dash to lease the ballpark back for the 2009 season. On June 2, 2009, the Dash announced a new scheduled opening for the 2010 season.