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The Game Plan for Scottsdale Stadium Renovations: Shade, Expansion, Year-Round Events

Scottsdale Stadium 2017

With a $60 million budget, the city of Scottsdale is seeking a design-build team for renovations to Scottsdale Stadium, the spring home of the San Francisco Giants. Here’s the wish list for renovations, based on a RFQ issued by the city.

The Giants and Scottsdale have been working on an overhaul of the team’s spring-training facilities, first seeking to renovate Papago Park in Phoenix (the former training camp for the Oakland Athletics) and then upgrade Scottsdale Stadium. There are totally different challenges at play here: plenty of land and limited facilities at Papago Park, limited footprint but prime location at Scottsdale Stadium.

The Scottsdale Stadium improvements, tentatively set for spring training 2020, would include a new event center, an expanded main entry plaza, changes to the outfield berm areas, and an upgraded Charro Lodge in right field.

Here are the major proposals for the Scottsdale Stadium renovations:

  • The right-field Charro Lodge and an existing concessions platform would be expanded. The Charro Lodge is one of the hottest tickets in all of spring training, and an expansion/reconfiguration would also allow it to be used year-round for a variety of events.
  • Berm seating is especially popular at Scottsdale Stadium. The master plan doesn’t call for eliminating the berm, but it does call for the addition of deck areas to the back of the berm, eliminating ballpark dead space to the north of the playing field. This large terrace area would be its own draw.
  • Concourses would be widened to allow better traffic flow throughout the ballpark. Right now there are several pinch points where fans spend a lot of time working to get through to their seats.
  • Bleachers down each line would be removed and replaced with theater-style fixed seating, and the seating bowl would be extended down the line. Access to the second level suite/press area would be expanded. Along with the expansion of the bowl, new shade structures would be added all the way down each line. Currently Scottsdale Stadium has a paucity of shade, and the new structures would address this deficiency.
  • The main entry, which now feels like an afterthought, would be expanded and may feature mass transit and rideshare areas.
  • A new clubhouse and event center would be constructed on the Osborn Road side of the ballpark, at the east end of the parking lot. The new 10,000-square-foot-plus event center would be the largest in downtown Scottsdale.

The schedule: work would begin in April 2019 and be done in stages to accommodate both spring training 2020 and Arizona Fall League play. The city’s timeline for selecting a design-build team is also compressed: submittals are due the morning of April 24, with interviews tentatively scheduled for May 14.

RELATED STORIES: Scottsdale Stadium Renovations Being Discussed; Giants’ Papago Park Pitch Moves Forward

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