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August 13, 2015Recapping Peter King’s visit to Browns training camp
August 13, 2015The Cleveland Indians spent much of last season drastically renovating major sections of The Jake (ahem, Progressive Field), and Wednesday morning, they unveiled plans for the second phase of the project. According to the team, crews will be working throughout the winter to add new concessions, construct a new club behind home plate (g’bye dugout seats), and add more elements that celebrate the team’s history. The plans for the stadium’s enhancements include extending the look and idea of the newly created Right Field District, which has been extremely popular with Tribe fans, throughout the main concourse.
“The fans have been exceptionally positive in their feedback,” said Andrew Miller, the Indians’ senior vice president of strategy and business analytics. “The first phase was primarily focused on the Right Field District. This phase will be taking a lot of the themes that are popular in right field and including them around the rest of the concourse.”
Created during Progressive Field’s first phase of renovations, the Right Field District is where the team features local restaurants such as Melt Bar and Grilled, Sweet Moses, Dynomite Burgers and Great Lakes Brewing Co. Miller noted that the new concessions for 2016 will still include ballpark favorites, but the team will also be looking to build on the popularity of more local specialties, bringing additional unique options to the concourse.
The new club behind home plate, which will only be available to Diamond and Field Box Front season ticket holders, will include concessions, a full bar, a customer service center and a glass front so fans can watch the game. It will stay open after games, providing season ticket holders a place to go while traffic clears. The renovated club area will also open things up, providing a better view of the field from the concourse.
“First and foremost, we’re looking to open up the concourse,” Miller said. “We’re going to open up the concourse as much as we can behind home plate and behind third base and create the club directly behind home plate. The concept is to provide an exclusive area to those fans, as well as create more openness for fans walking in the concourse.”
Enhancing the views throughout Progressive Field has been a goal of the Indians for several years. The Right Field District, as well as the enhanced family deck and two-story Kids Clubhouse, help in that regard, providing better views for fans from just about anywhere, while also encouraging them to roam the ballpark.
“As we did our research over the last few years,” Miller said, “One of the main themes was connection. Connection both between the city and the ballpark, and the areas between the ballpark and the field. If you go to modern ballparks that have opened in recent years, many of them have 360-degree views of the field from anywhere in the concourse.”
“The way that Progressive Field—Jacobs Field at the time—was initially built, that wasn’t the case,” Miller said. “So, to the extent that it’s possible, we’re going to try to create as much openness as possible, so fans, wherever they are in the ballpark, can still feel that connection to what’s going on on the field.”
In addition to more concessions and better views, Miller said that more statues honoring the team’s history could be coming as part of the Phase 2 renovations. Outside Gate C, the Indians already have three statues honoring Indians greats Bob Feller, Larry Doby and Jim Thome, and earlier this season, the team unveiled a unique exhibit in the Terrace Club showcasing Feller’s career.
“That’s been another very important part to us,” Miller said of the added historical elements. “Throughout the Right Field District renovations, we tried to open up Heritage Park, create space for our heritage out on the plaza. We just unveiled the Doby statue. We’re looking to do the same thing across Phase 2 of the renovations. We’ll find different ways to incorporate our team history.”
The Indians will be working with Gateway Economic Development Corp., along with city leaders and other stakeholders, on the final stages of approval for the new privately funded projects. Renovations are set to begin in October.
3 Comments
Great, removing more seats….The first phase of renovations would have been great if it weren’t for the giant boxes they built to cover up the upper deck. It’s an eyesore and embarrassing.
Looks good in the pics, not sure how I get to my seats now though…
Are those the ghosts of attendance past? Or am I standing in the presence of the spirits of attendance yet to come? Are you going to show me the shadows of attendance that has not yet happened but will happen? Spirits of the future, I fear you more than any spectre I have met tonight!