Cleveland built Jacobs Field—now Progressive Field—as an act of faith. After decades of decline, after the river caught fire and the city defaulted on its bonds, after “Mistake on the Lake” became the national punchline, they bet $175 million that a new ballpark could help bring the city back.

It opened in April 1994. Masumi photographed it in 1993, during construction, when the stadium was rising from the industrial landscape of downtown but hadn’t yet proved anything. The Indians hadn’t yet won five straight division titles or played in two World Series. The Gateway District around it hadn’t yet filled with restaurants and apartments. It was still just a promise.

The stadium’s architecture marked a deliberate break from the concrete doughnuts of the 1960s and 70s. Brick and limestone facades referenced Cleveland’s industrial heritage. Exposed steel trusses recalled classic ballparks like Fenway. The open concourse design connected the interior to the downtown streetscape—a stadium trying to be part of the city rather than a fortress against it.

For Masumi, who had spent years documenting Cleveland’s post-industrial ruins in her other work, this commission meant photographing hope instead of abandonment. Her panoramic technique, stretching nearly seven feet across, captures the sweep of the new architecture while maintaining her characteristic multi-perspective construction. The stadium as it was being born, before anyone knew if the gamble would pay off.