Happy anniversary, Coors Field.

Rockies fans later this month will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the opening of Coors Field, a ballpark that not only has withstood the test of time, but aged gracefully into one of Major League Baseball’s architectural gems.

The Rockies host the Oakland Athletics at 2:10 p.m. Friday for another Opening Day in LoDo.

Opened on April 26, 1995, Coors Field is now the third-oldest ballpark in the National League, with only Wrigley Field (1914) and Dodger Stadium (1962) predating it. Since Coors Field opened its gates, the Atlanta Braves have called three different stadiums home, part of 20 new ballparks that have come into existence over the last three decades.

So what makes Coors Field special? Craig Meyer, then part of the planning team at Populous, an architectural firm that has been involved with the creation of several MLB stadiums, believes it’s about the ballpark becoming a part of the LoDo neighborhood.

“It’s a ballpark that fits in with the community, and it’s really been, I think, an asset to the neighborhood,” said Meyer, who was part of the Coors Field site selection team. “There was a lot of effort that went into making it feel seamless in that neighborhood and really a part of the community and representative of the community. I think that resonates there. It seems like it feels so easy and natural when you’re there today.”

Meyer and Stewart Ervie, who created some of the plan layouts for many of the areas inside Coors Field that are so familiar to fans today, admit now it may seem easy to visualize the stadium at 20th and Blake as a part of LoDo.

That wasn’t always the case.

“I don’t think there were a great number of people who thought we could actually make it happen there,” Meyer told The Denver Gazette. “Eventually, for all the right reasons, the site ended up being the selection. And I think people got to that slowly, by starting to believe that it could actually go there and not be something that was detrimental, but was actually something that was beneficial. I think that was a huge turn of events.”

Among the challenges faced in creating Coors Field was a series of buildings already on Blake Street that many believed should be integrated into the stadium’s design.

“The old Piggly Wiggly building that was there was eventually rebuilt a block off of Blake Street,” Meyer said. “There was an old gas station that was really cool that was on the corner. There were a number of people on the urban design committee from the city who thought we should keep those buildings and their facades as part of Coors Field. We didn’t believe that that could be as successful as they did.

“Luckily, at the end of the day, we came to a compromise where they literally boxed up Piggly Wiggly in a series of crates to move it nearby and moved the gas station somewhere so it was waiting to be rebuilt.”

Ground first was broken for Coors Field on October 6, 1992. That was 932 days before the Rockies hosted the New York Mets on a chilly Wednesday night in downtown Denver.

While the weather that night was frigid, Coors Field was the hottest ticket in town.

“I was standing out front watching the crowd come together,” Meyer recalled of first ballgame at the ballpark. “When the game started, I was sitting in the upper deck, down the right field line with folks from the city who had worked their tails off to make this happen. We were all drinking beer there together, watching the first game, and it was awesome.”

Sipping a beverage and enjoying an evening in LoDo has been a common theme for Coloradans over the last 30 years. During that time, Coors Field has undergone a few changes, including the creation of the Rooftop (known to locals as the Party Deck) and a new mountain-shaped scoreboard in the left-center field concourse.

Those changes, along with subtle ones designed to keep the ballpark up-to-date for a new generation of baseball fans, help Coors Field evolve while maintaining its original charm.

“I think a lot of credit goes to the Rockies,” Ervie said. “They have been very diligent in maintaining the ballpark over the years. They try to stay current. They’ve been really good about implementing things from time to time, as the market may change. They’re responsive to that and that makes a difference.”

Now on the cusp of its 30th anniversary, Coors Field still holds a special place for two of the men who helped bring it to life.

“It’s amazing to feel so lucky, right? It’s hard not to be proud of it,” Meyer said. “Honestly, I’m somewhat in awe and somewhat in disbelief. Did we really get to be involved in this? It’s amazing.”

It’s also special to know that as long as Coors Field exists, their plans to help change LoDo forever will be recognized as well.

“I have my name on a plaque in center field,” Meyer smiled, referring to the marker in the center field concourse at Coors Field. “That means so much to me.”

Just like Coors Field continues to mean so much to MLB fans from around the world who will visit 20th and Blake on Friday, the next Opening Day.