Funding of the $16.5 million renovation of FirstEnergy Stadium, home of the Reading Fighting Phils (Double-A Northeast), is now complete after the announcement of $7.5 million in Commonwealth of Pennsylvania monies.
Pennsylvania’s funding will be combined with investments of $3 million each from the team, City of Reading, and County of Berks.
In addition to renovating several areas, the project will add a new building to FirstEnergy Stadium, located in right-center field and designed to meet the new MiLB facility specs imposed by MLB. The new building will include player clubhouses, field manager’s offices, coach’s offices, a female locker room, training rooms, player dining areas with a kitchen, batting tunnels, bullpens, a weight room, and supporting areas, for both the R-Phils and the visiting teams. These new spaces are designed both the fill the needs of the baseball team but also be used year-round, sporting a flexible design for organizations, businesses, and individuals seeking to host events at FirstEnergy Stadium.
“We are so very thankful to our elected-officials from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the City of Reading, and the County of Berks, who all worked very hard to achieve this solution,” said Scott Hunsicker, General Manager of the Reading Fightin Phils, in a press statement. “We are excited for the future of FirstEnergy Stadium, as we continue to work hard to ensure that America’s Classic Ballpark remains a family-friendly show piece for our Baseballtown Region, and something that we all can be very proud of.”
Renderings of the project are expected to be released next week.
Photo courtesy Reading Fightin Phils