CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Reds President and Chief Executive Officer Bob Castellini today announced the resignation of Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer John Allen, effective December 31.

Allen will not be replaced. His duties will be reallocated within the existing organizational hierarchy.

“John has been the backbone of this organization for 13 seasons and did great things for the Reds and for the city of Cincinnati,” Castellini said, “He left his imprint here in countless ways. We, and Reds fans everywhere, appreciate his contributions to our team’s legacy.”

He added, “For the past two years, John has proved to be invaluable to me. It is an understatement to say that I will very much miss his effective hard work and the loyalty he extended to this franchise and to me personally. This was a decision made solely by John. He and his wife, Anna, have opted to move back to their home state of Kansas, where they have many activities and much family that is dear to them. I have asked John, and he has agreed, to stay with the Reds as a consultant to direct our Spring Training location efforts.”

Allen, 58, joined the organization as controller in May 1995, was named managing executive in August 1996 and was named chief operating officer in October 1999. He was responsible for all business and ballpark operations of the team and reported directly to the majority owners, first Marge Schott, then Carl Lindner and now Castellini.

Under Allen’s guidance, the Reds moved into Great American Ball Park in 2003. He was involved in all aspects of the development and construction of that facility and served as the team’s liaison on the 1995 sales tax issue, Issue 11 for the location of the ballpark and lease negotiations.

Allen returned focus to the organization’s rich history with the inclusion of the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum as part of the new ballpark’s design, the addition of statues at the Crosley Terrace entrance of the ballpark and the uniform jersey retirement ceremonies of some of the team’s greatest players.

He engineered the development of the Reds Community Fund and reached out to fans by implementing the popular Redsfest and Winter Caravans.

Allen began his career in baseball in 1990 as an intern with the Columbus Clippers, the Yankees’ Class AAA affiliate. He worked as that club’s director of business operations for five seasons before joining the Reds.