Construction is on track for UConn‘s upcoming Elliot Ballpark, as university officials are confident that the facility will open as scheduled in late March.
Work is underway for the new 1,500-seat facility, which is being constructed across Jim Calhoun Way from J.O. Christian Field, the baseball program’s home through last season. UConn is scheduled to play its first home game of the 2020 season on March 29, and it appears that Elliot Ballpark will be ready by that date.
Installation of the artificial turf surface will begin in the coming weeks, showing a sign of impending completion for what UConn officials believe will be one of the best baseball facilities in the northeast. More from the Hartford Courant:
The baseball stadium’s turf will be installed in the next few weeks, [athletic director David] Benedict said, leaving the stadium on track to open in time for the Huskies’ first scheduled home game, March 29 against Seton Hall. The soccer field is expected to be ready by the following fall, while the softball stadium will be finished for the 2021 season.
“We’re not there right now, but to be able to stand at home plate of the baseball facility, at Elliot Ballpark, you really begin to see things coming together,” Benedict said.
Baseball coach Jim Penders, in attendance for the ceremony Wednesday, said he expects new facilities will help greatly help with recruiting.
“16-, 17-, 18-year-old kids, they like stuff,” Penders said. “This is going to be state-of-the-art. There’s gonna be nobody in the Northeast that has anything even close to compare. So we’re going to stand out again, and I just can’t wait.”
Elliot Ballpark is named in honor of Doug Elliot, a former UConn baseball player and 1982 graduate who is currently president of Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. Doug Elliot and his wife Sheila provided the lead financial gift for the project.
Rendering courtesy UConn.