West Palm’s new spring training park called ‘immersive experience’

New spring home of the Astros, Nationals set to open on Feb. 18.

WEST PALM BEACH — Ballpark of the Palm Beaches opens to the public in a month.

For cit y officials, the major league baseball complex off Haverhill Road brings big league teams for the first time since 1997 when the Atlanta Braves and Montreal Expos played their final games at West Palm Beach Municipal Stadium. It will fill thousands of hotel rooms and restaurant seats, not to mention filling ballpark seats with tourists and locals alike. The Houston Astros’ and Washington Nationals’ arrival stands to bolster the county economy and image as well, and the state’s standing as home plate for spring training.

But the most immediate impact will be felt by those who drive up to the complex starting Feb. 18, when the ballplayers put in their first full day of workouts, and those who watch the two teams play the first game, 10 days later.

They’ll smell the fresh-cut grass of 12 ball fields, some for the minor leaguers and two for the majors, and of the half-dozen soccer fields that will be open for play by local leagues when not in use for stadium parking. All on a former landfill whose 160 acres as little as a year ago were populated mainly by Australian pines and weedy stretches of sand.

Ballpark General Manager Brady Ballard said entering the complex will be an “immersive experience” for visitors.

The first thing they’ll notice will be the palms, young shade Have a West Palm Beach news tip? Contact Staff Writer Tony Doris at tdoris@pbpost.com or 561-820-4703.

trees and other landscaping that make it a welcoming scene, he said. There’ll be a series of people direc ting c ars and pedestrians through the paved and grassy lots.

They’ll quickly find themselves beside the two major league playing fields outside the stadium. “So steps from entering, they’re going to see ballplayers in action.”

The sidewalk rises up an incline as it nears the stadium, allowing enough elevation to overlook the green array of baseball diamonds that stretches from Haverhill on the west to Military Trail on the east.

Two pedestrian bridges lead toward the elevated main concourse, from which visitors can either descend to their seats or continue walking the concourse which wraps around the stadium, allowing views of the playing