Sports monuments

When professional sports fans attend a game, seldom do they consider how the stadium design puts them closer to the action or how an arena was built to give them the greatest vantage point as the teams played.

And they don't have to.

In several instances, Jackson native Craig Milde did it for them.

Milde works for a Kansas City-based architecture firm that specializes in designing sports arenas and other venue locations. He's worked on projects for NFL teams like the New England Patriots and Phoenix Cardinals and the Phoenix Coyotes NHL hockey team. His firm even helped design the new Cardinals stadium in downtown St. Louis.

Milde chose a career in architecture to blend his desire for art and design with a curiosity for how things were built. He worked for other firms before finding a niche in the sports architecture market.

While Americans have always been passionate about their sports teams, the buildings where the teams played rarely got noticed. Society puts a lot of attention to the details, design and construction of national monuments. Yet few people pay attention to the amazing architecture and design of sports stadiums and arenas.

However, since the redesign of Camden Yards in 1992, more attention has been given to the design and architecture features displayed in sports arenas and complexes.

And Craig Milde's partly to credit for the change. He's responsible for some amazing designs that awe sports fans. And Cape Girardeau designs influence some of his work, especially the fluted columns at the Arena Building.

It's nice to know that a little bit of Southeast Missouri goes with Milde on every project he designs, considering the scope of his work.