Bill Finch, 89; Designed Stadiums in Cincinnati, Atlanta

Bill Finch, 89, a designer of Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium and Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, died Monday of a cerebral hemorrhage at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta.

“Bill considered the Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium his finest work. Even so, he didn’t make a fuss when it was torn down,” said a former partner, Cecil Alexander.

Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, which opened in 1966 and was demolished in 1997, was known as “the Launching Pad” because so many home runs sailed out of it. Now the field is a parking lot next to the Atlanta Braves’ current stadium, Turner Field.

Riverfront Stadium opened in 1970 and was torn down last year. The Reds’ Great American Ball Park opened this season.

Finch’s firm also helped plan the University of North Carolina’s “Dean Dome” and the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, N.Y.

An Atlanta native, Finch graduated from Georgia Tech and later taught there. He was a decorated veteran of World War II and the Korean War, and he served 37 years in the Marine Reserves, retiring as a colonel.