Résumé

Military service as an engineer, US Army, Fort Riley, KS, c. 1962-1964.

Architect, Kivett and Myers, Architects, Kansas City, MO, -1973. Kivett and Myers became an important designer of post-multi-use stadia, beginning with the highly successful football stadium, Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, MO, (1972) and the baseball-only facility, Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO, (1972, renovated by HOK Sport in 1997 and 2009). The success of these two venues led to the design of the New Jersey Meadowlands, East Rutherford, NJ, (1976).

Partner, Devine, James, Labinski & Myers (DJLM), Architects, Kansas City, MO, 1973- c. 1980.

Architect, HNTB Sports Architecture Studio, Kansas City, MO, c. 1980-1983. In 1983, Labinski and a group of HNTB employees set up a Kansas City, MO-based sports-facility-focused office of the architectural firm, Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum, of Saint Louis, MO.

President, Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum (HOK) Sport, Kansas City, MO, 1983-2000. This firm was resposible for many sport-specific stadia erected in the US during the 1980s-2000s, replacing multi-purpose venues. HOK Sport-design stadia included: Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, FL, (1987); Pilot Field, Buffalo, NY, (1988); Orioles Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, MD, (1992); Coors Field, Denver, CO, (1995); Jacksonville Municipal Stadium (renovation of the Gator Bowl), Jacksonville, FL, (1995); Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC, (1996); Ravens Stadium at Camden Yards, Baltimore, MD, (1998); Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL, (1998); Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco, CA, (2000); Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, KS, (1972, renovated by HOK Sport / Populous in 2007-2010).

At Miami's Joe Robbie Stadium, Labinski introduced the concept of "club seating," a high-revenue seating section that could help offset the stadium's high construction costs. This revenue, along with money derived from luxurious, enclosed "skyboxes" made the erection of these single-sport stadium more manageable for profit-focused owners. New York Times reporter Richard Sandomir said of this innovation at the Miami Dolphins new stadium: "For his design of Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., which opened in 1987 as the home of the Miami Dolphins, Mr. Labinski is credited with creating the category of club seating as a cheaper option for fans than expensive, enclosed luxury suites. Revenue from both the club seats and the suites helped Joe Robbie, then the Dolphins’ owner, finance the stadium’s construction. Club seats soon became essential parts of every stadium’s design." (See Richard Sandomir, New York Times.com, "Ron Labinski, Who Designed a Cozier Future for Stadiums, Dies at 85," published 02/09/2023, accessed 03/13/2023.)

Labinski's greatest architectural success was the first of the retro-baseball fields of the 1990s, Orioles Park at Camden Yards. This design was based on an earlier concept that Labinski created for Pilot Field in his hometown of Buffalo, NY. The retro-parks consciously made references to earlier baseball parks, such as Ebbetts Field in Brooklyn, with smaller seating capacities, improved sightlines for baseball and formal or spatial idiosynchracies that distinguished each facility. Most of these new ballparks were conceived in concert with downtown redevelopment efforts, and views of beyond the outfields often highlighted the city's high-rise architecture or its distinctive natural characteristics. Sandomir said in Labinski's obituary: "The hallmarks of HOK’s designs include sightlines that provide the best possible views of games as well as vistas of what’s beyond a stadium — the skyline outside Oracle Park in San Francisco, for example, or the B&O Warehouse outside Camden Yards, or a panorama of downtown Denver and the Front Range mountains from rooftop cabanas at Coors Field. The designs are also distinguished by open concourses that let fans follow the action while buying food from a wide array of concession options."

High School / College

Graduate, Parma Senior High School, Parma, OH, 1955.

B.Arch., University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, IL, c. 1960.

Relocation

Ronald Labinski was born in Buffalo, NY.

He passed away in Prairie Village, KS, at age 85. He suffered from frontotemporal dementia.

Parents

His father was Raymond Labinski, his mother, Bertha Labinski.

Spouse

He wed Lee Beougher.

Children

He and Lee had two children: Michelle Labinski Embry and Kent Labinski.