A whole new ball game
$100M makeover gives Dunedin stadium new lease on life
DUNEDIN, FLA.— Workers with neon yellow and Florida orange vests scurry past the dark blue seats before stopping to consult blueprints. Hammers clang off hard metal under the sun of a warm February day, and the beeping from the trucks and construction vehicles is a constant din.
If you walked past the Blue Jays spring training stadium in this Instagram-worthy seaside town west of Tampa, you’d be forgiven if you thought the facility was some time away from completion. Outside the stadium, which has been given a $102-million (U.S.) renovation/ expansion and rechristened as TD Ballpark, a visit early this past week found rows of unplanted palm trees on the ground outside the park, along with long, looping spools of cables or wires, massive mounds of dirt and other construction materials.
Down on the field, however, things appear to be a lot more complete.
The construction noise is still there, but the grass is green and soft under foot and the infield looks ready for the first hot shot to Vladimir Guerrero at third base. The new video board, the first time the Jays have had one at their spring training home, flickers in vivid colour. And the new bullpens look ready for their first warm-ups.
Team officials gave a visitor from the true north a brief tour and said things are shaping up nicely for a Feb. 24 debut against Atlanta, the Jays’ first of 16 home dates.
“We’ve moved from an older park without many amenities to a new one with tons of amenities,” said Shelby Nelson, a Toronto native who heads up Florida operations for Canada’s only major league team. “This is a truly professional field and we’re very excited.”
The Jays have made Dunedin their spring home since they began in 1977, and have been looking for major improvements since the days of Roberto Alomar and Joe Carter. And now they’re almost complete. The team, with sizable help from Pinellas County, the city of Dunedin and the state of Florida, has invested at least $102 million to give their park the kind of facelift that would make a Hollywood star jealous. The Jays chipped in $40 million of that amount.
Among the changes:
á The video board in left-centre field.
á Standing-room-only spots with a drink rail, allowing fans to sip a soft drink or a beer while they watch the game.
á A wraparound, 360-degree concourse so fans can walk the entire length of the park.
á An elevated “tiki bar” beyond the fence in right-centre.
á New concession stands with wider concourses and better food and drink selection, including fish tacos and several types of local craft beer.
á New bullpens that fans will be able to see into from the stands, as well as a Blue Jays bullpen viewing area in right field.
á A new left-field section of seats, with an air-conditioned bar on top and a special kids’ zone.
á More places for fans to interact with their favourite players.
Nelson said other changes are more subtle: new suites, new foldable seats that make access and egress easier for fans, better air flow for hot days, and nicer washrooms. They’ve also added large speakers around the stadium to improve the sound. Previously, there was only one speaker in the entire place — and it was in the outfield.
Fans almost certainly won’t notice, but the dugouts are also bigger and the sloping infield has been regraded — less of an angle, which infielders will no doubt appreciate.
There will be room for roughly 8,500 fans, about 3,000 more than last year, which will make tickets (going for $15 to $50) easier to come by. But Nelson said they’ve preserved the intimacy of the park, “which I think has always been its greatest feature.”
In addition to the stadium, the Jays have made huge improvements to their workout facilities a few kilometres away. The Bobby Mattick Training Center at Englebert Complex has almost tripled in size. When it’s finished later this year, it will include three new diamonds, a 10,000-square-foot weight room, classrooms, swimming pools, a sauna and other features that will be available to players year-round.
“I think we’re going to have, overall, the all-around best facility in Major League Baseball when this is done,” team president Mark Shapiro said when details were released some 16 months ago. “It’s a major competitive step for us to go from a bottom facility to a top-tier facility, with the opportunity to continue to grow as it goes on.”
The Jays have agreed to stick with Dunedin for another 25 years.
“The town has been great,” Nelson said. “We’ve worked really hard over the last10 years to build our community efforts here. They’ve been extremely supportive. They do great domestic events, including Mardi Gras.”
Shane Bittaker, owner of Caracara Asian Tapas Tacos and Bar in downtown Dunedin and nearby Taco Baby, said small business folks in town are big supporters of the team and the fans they bring to the city.
“We all circle the dates on our calendar when the games start,” he said.
There’s still a lot of clanging and clattering a few blocks south at the ballpark, but Nelson doesn’t appear worried.
“We’re feeling very confident that we’ll be ready in time,” he said. “I feel very good about it.”
Jim Byers covered the Blue Jays for the Toronto Star from 1992 to 1998 and was with the paper for 32 years before retiring. He’s now a full-time travel writer. His visit to Dunedin was paid for by the Visit St. Pete Clearwater and Visit Florida tourism boards. Officials did not approve or see this story prior to publication.