We begin our annual awards season with our 2018 Ballpark of the Year: SRP Park, home of the Augusta GreenJackets (Low A; Sally League), which combines a great fan experience and a model for a public-private partnership.
Start with a scenic riverfront location in the midst of a new mixed-use development. Add in a ballpark design encompassing the best of Southern hospitality. Throw in the potential to generate more economic activity. You’d then have a pretty good vision of what SRP Park is and what it can become, making the new home of the Augusta GreenJackets the 2018 Ballpark of the Year, as awarded by Ballpark Digest.
“We expect a lot of things from today’s modern ballparks,” said Kevin Reichard, Ballpark Digest publisher. “We expect them to provide a great fan experience, we expect them to take good care of players, and we expect them to provide tangible benefits for their communities. SRP Park succeeds at fulfilling these expectations.”
“We are incredibly honored to receive the Ballpark Digest 2018 Ballpark of the Year Award,” said Jeff Eiseman, President & Partner, Augusta GreenJackets. “I have personally visited many of the past years’ recipients and to be listed alongside them is truly remarkable. To have a vision that was years in the making not only come to fruition but become a source of pride for not only North Augusta but the entire metro region is all any operator can hope for. This award belongs to the City of North Augusta. Their leadership and vision made this all possible. The best is yet to come as the Riverside Village district fills out. 2018 was merely just the beginning and this ballpark and district will evolve annually and be the premier place to live, work, play and smile.”
“Receiving this award for beautiful city-owned SRP Park validates the benefits a public-private partnership can provide,” said North Augusta Mayor Bob Pettit. “SRP Park is the perfect ballpark in the right location is the jewel of our new Riverside Village development. I enjoy nothing more than watching the GreenJackets play in this stadium.”
Located across the Savannah River from the edge of downtown Augusta in North Augusta, South Carolina, SRP Park is the centerpiece of the Riverside Village development (known formerly as Project Jackson). A modern mixed-use development with hotels, residential, office and retail, Riverside Village is an ambitious project undertaken by the city and investors, including Greenstone, the Atlanta-based investment firm that includes Chris Schoen, part of the GreenJackets ownership via Agon Sports & Entertainment.
“We selected SRP Park as our Ballpark of the Year both because of how it works as a modern ballpark, as well as how it works as the cornerstone of additional economic activity,” Reichard added. “If you look at past winners of our Ballpark of the Year Award—SunTrust Park, Spirit Communications Park, CHS Field—there’s a common theme in that the ballparks are doing more for a community than just selling a ballgame. They’re all centerpieces of greater community impacts.”
SRP Park joins a distinguished list of ballparks honored by Ballpark Digest as Ballpark of the Year, including SunTrust Park (2017), Minnesota’s Target Field (2010), Columbia’s Spirit Communications Park (2016), St. Paul’s CHS Field (2015), El Paso’s Southwest University Park (2014) and Arizona’s Salt River Fields at Talking Stick (2011).
We’ll be at the ballpark this Friday to present the annual award in person to the GreenJackets and the city of North Augusta.