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LMCU Ballpark Renovation


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Link to the LMCU Ballpark renovation.

https://www.milb.com/west-michigan/ballpark/modernizationproject

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There's a lot more photos in the link listed above.

One of the big things that stood out to me was this:

"Phase 1 work will begin in the spring of 2023 and will be completed prior to the Whitecaps’ 2024 season. This phase focuses on player-facing improvements, which are driven by facility standard requirements set by Major League Baseball, and group hospitality experiences. It includes industry-leading player amenities to better develop the next generation of Detroit Tigers, completely overhauling the player experience for future Whitecaps. Player-facing improvements include both the home and visitor clubhouses and the playing surface, in addition to the stadium lighting upgrade that was completed last fall."

"Phase 2 will include construction projects in 2025 and beyond, building on LMCU Ballpark’s 30 years of history by completely overhauling the stadium and preparing it for a new generation of Whitecaps fans."

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I was coming here to post this. I really enjoy baseball, and I've found LMCU to be, in my opinion, a bad ballpark. It's very sterile and plain, especially when you look at Midlands and Toledo. And I believe parks should be downtown. But I get that the caps own this and it's a sweet deal for them.

 

That said, these renderings certainly bring the park up to standards as compared to many other parks. So this is really exciting for what is there now 

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Very cool! The location stinks, but that's not going to change. There are two reasons to not put a stadium downtown - either "no one goes downtown" or "downtown land is too expensive." When the ballpark was planned, the first one was true. Now, the second one is true. 

So if it's going to be sandwiched between 131 and the river, far from downtown and even disconnected from Comstock Park, at least it can be a state of the art facility. 

Edited by Khorasaurus1
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It has always bothered me that it is so detached from Comstock Park, which could have really benefited from such a facility at least blending in some way into the rest of the town a bit more seamlessly. 
I'm around there simi regularly, and you just never see anything but a massive line of cars going there for a game. There is zero pedestrian, bike, or bus traffic going back into Comstock Park. It is such an old school car-oriented facility.

I suppose that's why I'm just meh about the place. See it the same as Rivertown Crossing. Something that generates a lot attendance, some thing you can put in a tourist brochure to check off an " local attraction" box, but really it doesn't register much otherwise.

But it's nice that it still generates enough use that money has been put into it regularly so that maybe one day the rest of Comstock Park will grow around it from what I hope is a lot of tax dollars it generates.

Edited by GR_Urbanist
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Here's how Rossetti, the architectural firm sees it:

ROSSETTI: LMCU ballpark reimagination

There are a lot of sports venues listed in the Rossetti Wikipedia entry, including many you are likely familiar with but no baseball parks:

WIKIPEDIA: Rossetti Architects

A far off topic personal note about Rossetti:  Back in the late 70's early 80's when I worked for the Free Press, I could see a Rossetti creation (the red girder thing,) if I looked down out of my tenth floor office window towards Cadillac Square.  Rossetti was a much smaller mostly local firm then and they didn't do sports yet:

1694746591_reggirder.png.faf1170aacb6d9d5c1f022e6b4e139d8.png

This was a trolley station at Cadillac Square for what was basically a tourist attraction.  The trolleys ran from in front of the Book Cadillac Hotel to Renaissance Center and back with a stop in between at what was then called Cobo Hall.  The red girders were controversial at the time mostly because they didn't match the surrounding architecture.  I didn't mind them, they added some color.  After the People Mover was built, the trolleys where doomed and the station, the tracks, and the trolleys were removed.  I was also gone by then.

 

Edited by walker
because I missed an "s" once when typing Rossetti.
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  • 1 year later...
  • 1 month later...

a canopy would be nice and this would be the time to do it and could add a taller section of boxes at the same time or at least futureproof it to be able to add more capacity later if/when needed. I do like the small additions, the walk around, and the landscaping / aesthetic look away from the cheap 90's vinyl siding depressing place 

Also what about utilizing the riverfront in some form maybe a park/tailgating area?

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One of the most instructive parts of this article is that attendance peaked quite a while ago and has plateaued...  Comments in this thread envisioning expansion of seating capacity should bear that in mind.  They're enhancing services with revenue generating offerings and segments in mind...  Not growing capacity.

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6 hours ago, cstonesparty said:

One of the most instructive parts of this article is that attendance peaked quite a while ago and has plateaued...  Comments in this thread envisioning expansion of seating capacity should bear that in mind.  They're enhancing services with revenue generating offerings and segments in mind...  Not growing capacity.

I don't want to increase capacity. I just want a dang roof and nice light towers

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23 hours ago, cstonesparty said:

One of the most instructive parts of this article is that attendance peaked quite a while ago and has plateaued...  Comments in this thread envisioning expansion of seating capacity should bear that in mind.  They're enhancing services with revenue generating offerings and segments in mind...  Not growing capacity.

They also commented on the area growing meaning more fans. If they every moved up to AA or AAA they would field more major league name and play bigger cities against teams with larger stadiums. Not that it needs to be expanded for todays demand but futureproofed for future demand along with the immediate service enhancements 

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3 hours ago, GR8scott said:

They also commented on the area growing meaning more fans. If they every moved up to AA or AAA they would field more major league name and play bigger cities against teams with larger stadiums. Not that it needs to be expanded for todays demand but futureproofed for future demand along with the immediate service enhancements 

While some (Buffalo is a great example) AAA ballparks are larger, most are right around the same size as LMCU. 10-12k

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