$10M ballpark upgrades keep IronPigs in Allentown
The back-and-forth squabbles between cities and counties over funding renovations at Coca-Cola Park — which Major League Baseball said were needed to keep the Lehigh Valley IronPigs in Allentown — are over and behind the region, declared Phillips Armstrong, the Lehigh County executive. So too is the threat of the ‘Pigs leaving.
“Yes, it is a county-owned stadium,” Armstrong said. “But I feel it’s a Lehigh Valley stadium. … We will save the ‘Pigs and we did save the ‘Pigs. Today you’re going to see a beautiful new upgrade to this (stadium).”
Upgrades include renovated player clubhouses and more space — about 40% to 50% more — tailored to new MLB requirements.
“When there’s a problem you don’t stay and yell and complain. You get together and you make things happen,” Armstrong said.
The IronPigs were able to get the money to make around $10 million in stadium renovations, which will allow them to keep their affiliation with the Philadelphia Phillies. It wasn’t always easy, though. Allentown City Council denied $1.5 million the IronPigs requested. Lehigh County gave $4.5 million; Northampton County, $200,000; state grants, $2.5 million; and the Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce, $100,000.
As a minor league team of the Phillies, IronPigs players can be pulled up to play for the Phillies if a player is injured, and Phillies players can be sent to the IronPigs for injury rehabilitation. Phillies star Bryce Harper thrilled area baseball fans with a two-game stint in Allentown in August.
The IronPigs previously signed a lease extension to play at Coca-Cola Park through the 2052 season.
IronPigs President and
General Manager Kurt Landes guided the media and invited guests through a tour of the new facility. An expanded two-level weight room, hydrotherapy room and a huge kitchen were just some of the new amenities available to the players.
The hydrotherapy room would be used pre- and postgame, Landes said.
For the coaches, the rooms were renovated and expanded. Both home and visitor teams have their own areas for coaches, complete with a bathroom and shower.
New to the complex is a female locker room created for staff and medical personnel. Landes said it would be
available for both home and visitor staff.
The visitor side of the complex was “severely undersized,” Landes said. There is now a training area, alongside a common space and a dining area.
In the last several years, Triple-A teams have expanded to 28 active players, making these changes all the more necessary.
Other areas include a private doctor’s office, an outdoor dining terrace and 39 home team lockers — up from 25 lockers. Accommodating larger teams and staff was a priority for the new training center.
IronPigs owners Craig Stein and Joe Finley
attended the news conference, as did Ferrous, one of the IronPigs mascots. Steve Carlton, former pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies and a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, surprised guests during the tour, initially posing as a construction worker.
Asked whether he liked the new training center, Carlton responded enthusiastically: “Hell yeah!”
While the center isn’t quite finished, it’s well on its way for opening day, April 4, with a 6:45 p.m. game against the Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre Railriders.