Construction on a new ballpark for the Fayetteville Woodpeckers (High A; Carolina League) is on schedule, as the club is moving toward the opening of its new downtown home.
Starting with the 2019 season, the newly minted Woodpeckers will play home games at a downtown Fayetteville ballpark. The $37.8 million facility will feature many of the areas found in modern ballparks–including six suites, four concourse suites, a group seating area that can be divided into six different areas, home-plate and right-field bars, and a kids’ zone next to the berm–while being positioned as the anchor of a larger redevelopment initiative in downtown Fayetteville.
As a sign of the construction work’s progress, the final steal beam to be installed at the ballpark is being displayed in city hall for signatures before it is placed at the site early next month. The Woodpeckers, meanwhile, are doing well on the ticket sales front and work on the ballpark is on schedule, according to team president Mark Zarthar. More from the Fayetteville Observer:
“Full-season ticket sales are going well,” he said. “We’ve exceeded 1,500 in commitments.”
He said the stadium work is on schedule.
Zarthar said stadium contractor Barton Malow has done a tremendous job of accelerating the construction work to make sure the stadium is ready.
“Now you can see the ballpark taking form, and for us, it is exciting to visualize what it will look like on opening day,” he said.
The Woodpeckers’ home opener is scheduled for April 18, when they face the Carolina Mudcats. Owned by the Houston Astros, the Woodpeckers franchise played the 2017 and 2018 seasons at Campbell University’s Jim Perry Stadium as the Buies Creek Astros. Next season will be the first time that Fayetteville has had an affiliated Minor League Baseball team of its own since the Cape Fear Crocs (Low A; Sally League) relocated to Lakewood, NJ after the 2000 season.
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