(a tip of the hat to Camden Chat and Kate Wheelers’s MASN blog…)
As we all know, the Orioles’ new Spring Training home will be in Sarasota this season (at Ed Smith Stadium as well as the Buck O’Neil Stadium complex) and for the upcoming future; therefore, the team is looking to spruce up and renovate the property. However, a nasty little thing such as politics are getting in the way, and the stadium development plan could be possibly held up.
And yes, there’s even a lot of legal wrangling...
Meanwhile, it looks like the stadium is already being spruced up for the arrival of the Baltimore Orioles for Spring Training.
However, as noted by Greg Bader – Communications Director for the Baltimore Orioles – the interest in that part of Florida for Spring Training baseball is very high and ticket sales seem to be doing well; plus, that the whole complex will be updated.
According to the Herald Trubine of Sarasota, the stadium when renovations are complete will have a new feel…
One of the biggest changes will be the very feel of the stadium. Instead of the one-story Ed Smith where the behind-home-plate entrance led into a wall, the new two-story facade features a trio of arches with a direct view onto the field.
Passing through the arches, visitors will suddenly have a full view of the ball field, says Sarasota architect Gary Hoyt, who is collaborating with Washington, D.C.-based architect David Schwarz on the project.
“It’s a welcoming shape,” Hoyt said. And different from Ed Smith, where “you’re either in the stadium or out.”
Here’s more information on the project:
After a decade in Sarasota, the Reds wanted to tear down and rebuild the 20-year-old stadium, and decided to move their spring training to Arizona after local voters rejected a $54 million rebuild that would have included things like berm seating and atiki bar.
The Orioles’ plan includes a second-level concourse for concessions, more shaded areas for fans, a party deck in right field, a grass berm and a shaded picnic area in left field.
Fans will have more choices about how they watch the game. And the changes will address one of the most persistent gripes about Ed Smith: too much seating in the sun.
With the new layout, “If you want to get out of the sun, and you don’t want to miss the action, you can walk to the back of the grandstand” to a large shaded area there, said Janet Marie Smith, the team’s vice president of planning and development.
Construction is scheduled to start in early April, after the Orioles complete their 2010 spring training season at the existing Ed Smith.
Using more of the existing stadium will help the Orioles stretch their budget for renovations, Smith said. The total number of seats will be 8,500 to 9,000 (Ed Smith currently seats 7,500), and has not changed since July, when the team and local governments signed a detailed agreement for spring training. The governments are providing $31.2 million.
The ballpark’s design has gone through an evolution in recent months to a point that “we’re literally not throwing anything away,” she said.
The Orioles also plan to add to existing clubhouses.
What people often lose sight of is that a spring training facility is at least as much about developing ballplayers as entertaining fans, Smith said.
Here are some renderings of the new project (from MASN)…
If people are really that interested to look at the Sarasota County Government website for more info, there are links here, here and a video here.
