Athletic Park, home of the Medicine Hat Mavericks (summer collegiate; Western Canadian Baseball League), is in line for $3 million (C) in upgrades, as the city uses economic-relief funds for ballpark improvements.
The specifics of upgrades have not been finalized, though the city has identified a series of potential improvements relating to seating, canopy, fencing, gates and the ticket office. From the Medicine Hat News:
“It’s awesome that we’re one of the potential projects that could get some support,” said [Mavericks owner and general manager Greg] Morrison.
“If this funding happens, it’s great because it shows us there’s some stability in the area, there’s some investment in the area. We like Athletic Park’s location, it’s got a great history down by the river. We do what we can in regard to cleanliness and that sort of thing … and I think you’ve got to tip your hat to the community that helped grow the value of what it became down there as an outdoor facility….”
Invest Medicine Hat managing director Jason Melhoff says Athletic Park was an ideal candidate for the funding – meant to stoke the pandemic economic slump – due to its location and presence in the community.
“We really identified Athletic Park as a cornerstone to the waterfront development and it really adds to the quality of life for the community,” said Melhoff. “It has been quite some time since we’ve been able to put any investment into that location, so with the criteria that the government had given us, we felt it was prime for utilization of those funds.”