Architects promise Maryvale renovation on time
PHOENIX – When folks are first told about the scope and timetable of the Milwaukee Brewers’ renovation and expansion of Maryvale Baseball Park, they inevitably ask the same question immediately.
How are you going to get all of that done in time for the opening of 2019 spring training?
Mo Stein, principal partner of HKS, the renowned ballpark architects in charge of the project, didn’t equivocate during groundbreaking ceremonies Tuesday at the ballpark.
“There are no ifs, ands or buts, we’re going to be done in 10 months," Stein promised in a brief address to a sizable contingent of local politicians, community leaders and Brewers personnel, from both the business side and baseball operations. Former team chief financial officer Bob Quinn, a point man for negotiations with the city on the project, returned to take part in the ceremony.
The timetable was sweet news for the Brewers, who are committing between $50 million and $60 million to a project that will transform the facility into a baseball palace with a campus-like feel that will allow spectators to stroll around and watch various activities.
The project includes a new two-story clubhouse building, entry plaza, batting tunnels, agility field, practice mounds, expansion of one practice field to Miller Park dimensions, parking lots, landscaping, visiting clubhouse, commissary and numerous other improvements and refurbishments.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Brewers chief operating officer Rick Schlesinger said. “There have been a lot of machinations to get to this point but we’re excited. It’s a big deal. We’re going to be here another 25 years, at the least. I wish I could fast-forward 10 months to see it all done.”
With the project scheduled to begin Friday – "mostly digging holes at first," said Stein – the Brewers will play their last home exhibition game Thursday against Kansas City. They will wrap up Cactus League play with road games against the Cubs, Athletics and White Sox before moving on to Houston for two exhibition contests.
One of the trickier part of the project is that the minor-league side of the complex will stay in operation until November. That includes extended spring training, players on medical rehab and instructional league action in the fall.
“It is not easy to work through a construction job,” general manager David Stearns. “But HKS and Mortenson have done a fabulous job of staging their work here so we can keep our player development center going throughout the summer. That was important to us as we got into this project. We didn’t want to have to relocate over the summer."