DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Indians Plan Major Renovations to Progressive Field

Cleveland Indians plan major renovations to Progressive Field | cleveland.com
http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2014/08/cleveland_indians_plan_major_r.html#incart_m-rpt-1

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Indians plan an extensive renovation of Progressive Field over the next two years, remodeling the 20-year-old downtown ballpark to better connect with their fans.

The club intends to make interior and exterior modifications to the area stretching from center to right field, a person familiar with the plans confirmed for The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The changes will require a modest reduction in seats, which the team will offset by the addition of social areas to accommodate fans, said the person who spoke on condition of anonymity because the team has not made its designs public.

The first phase of the project, which is expected to be completed by opening day in 2015, will be privately financed, the person said.

The Indians are expected to announce details on the upgrades at the 43,000-seat ballpark later this week.

In making substantial improvements to Progressive Field, the team will join the city's two other professional teams, the Browns and Cavaliers, who are both in the process of making enhancements at FirstEnergy Stadium and Quicken Loans Arena. While the current projects are being funded privately, some in the future may be paid with public money after voters in Cuyahoga County approved a 20-year extension of a tax on cigarettes and alcohol in May.

Known as Jacobs Field when it opened in 1994 to replace crumbling Municipal Stadium, the 43,000-seat home of Cleveland's major league baseball team has undergone numerous alterations over the past two decades. The Indians have been proactive in keeping Progressive Field outfitted with the latest in scoreboards, concessions and other services to please today's fan, and the ballpark has aged gracefully and looks as good as it did when the gates opened in '94.

However, the club has seen attendance drop from a franchise-high 3.46 million in 1999 to 1.57 million last season. The Indians are drawing only 18,659 fans per game this year — second-lowest in the majors.

There are numerous reasons for the decline: a slow-to-recover economy, dwindling population and baseball's struggle to lure younger fans among them. The Indians sold out 455 straight games from 1995 to 2001, but those days are long gone, which is why the team is looking to change the look of its ballpark to attract fans.

Also, teams are more cognizant that younger fans are seeking a different game-day experience, which may include higher-end foods and beverages, social media areas, bars and restaurants.

The timing of the Indians' renovation coincides with a rebirth of downtown Cleveland, which got a recent boost when the Republican Party announced plans to hold its 2016 national convention in the city and NBA superstar LeBron James decided to come back and play for the Cavs.

It's not the ballpark, it's the freaking owner. The park is still in great shape for being 20 yrs old, just need to field a winner more often.

First renovation should be a cleanup hitter, a real one.

Saw this article earlier. The Jake has always been one of my favorite places to watch a ball game. My wife and I lived in St. Louis when McGwire was slugging against Sammie Sosa, Baltimore when Cal Ripkien made his run and several other cities. I went to old Yankee Stadium, Wrigley Field, PNC Park, among others (including Great American Ball Park). After being in all of those parks,I would still rather watch ball at the Jake,although Camden Yards and PNC are pretty cool, too. Hope the upgrades are cool and don't detract from the original concept....

P.S. The worst was Tampa. What a crappy stadium for a warm weather team. It felt like we were in a cheap arena football stadium.

I've got to think this renovation is going to look a lot like what they've done to Coors Field in renovating unused areas (RF upper deck there and here) to a party area to make use of the space. Love the idea if that's what it is.

Hopefully followed by the collective resignation of the Dolans, Shapiro, Bob Dibiassio, and Antonetti.

Maybe I'm being a homer, or because I haven't been to a game in 4 years, but I don't think It "needs" a renovation.

I think star power and winning attracts repeat customers. If we had Detroit's roster, no way are we averaging 18k. Probably at least 30-34k. Look what Lebron did to cavs tickets. Season tickets already gone. The last really good year the indians had in 07, they averaged 29k.

I know i try to make it to 1 game a year, but believe me, if we had a roster like the tIgers, I would go up 5-10 games per year. I live 70 miles from Cleveland. I can't motivate myself to go see multiple games, when the team is mediocre, and the owner is reluctant to spend.

For most people going to a baseball game is an outing, going to a football game is an event.

I think several things keep attendance down in Cleveland, first being mediocre at best play, second is getting to that point in the season where you start trading off your best players every year, another is the economy in Cleveland hasn't been great...

A renovation to the stadium should generate a bump in attendance but it won't be sustained unless the team improves.

As far as Chicago, the Cubs are kind of iconic... Wrigley is a place to go, it's like going to a museum... Business people in town go to Wrigley just because it's Wrigley, tourists go to Wrigley because it's Wrigley.. it's kind of like Fenway in that respect.

I think once the Cav's win the NBA Championship and the Browns bring home the Lombardi Trophy, There gonna have to retool the Indians and get a real Clean-up hitter....

J/C
The Indians have photos and a video about the renovation on their page right now. They look like they should be pretty neat.

Note: The video is about 3 minutes.

Stadium Renovations

You said it.. Cubs are the place to go. Its a party... people want to be there. Being there is better than watching it on TV.

Right now.. Indians TV ratings are great .. 5th best in baseball. Fans haven't gone anywhere. Fielding a good team is number 1... but I think this will help attendance a lot. I'm excited about it..

I really look forward to the new renovations at Progressive Field. I've taken my wife and kids up to 3 games this year. It's always a good thing anytime you can update the amenities and offerings.

I've really noticed the Indians effort over the past couple years to offer higher end adult beverages and food options. This has been long overdue in keeping up with the rest of the modern parks. The Cavs have been offering solid food and beverage options recently as well.

Now the Browns need to take note of this as well and offer higher end options and amenities on the main concourse, not just club seating. I assume they will be doing this after all the stadium upgrades.

A little more detail:

Cleveland Indians detail multimillion-dollar renovation plans, seat cuts at Progressive Field | cleveland.com
http://www.cleveland.com/business/index....#incart_m-rpt-1

CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Cleveland Indians will trade roughly 7,000 little-used seats and some empty suites for new gathering areas at Progressive Field, as part of a multimillion-dollar renovation scheduled to start this year.

During a meeting early Thursday morning at the downtown ballpark, Indians President Mark Shapiro said the team is responding to years of fan feedback and broader changes in professional sports. The Indians hope to boost sagging attendance at games by tailoring sections of the park to families and young professionals, creating more standing-room areas and social spaces, and trying to better link the field to the city.

The renovations, which will stretch from center field to right field, could be finished by opening day of 2015.

"We're really adapting the building to the current sports landscape and the size of the market," Shapiro said.

The plans include:

Capping off a section of the upper deck, which sits empty on all but the busiest days, with a platform that will conceal unused seats and create new game-viewing areas.
Remaking the Gate C entrance off East Ninth Street by pulling out concrete and opening up views of the ballpark from the street. The gate makeover will eliminate a pavilion and a bar, but the Indians plan to build a two-story, indoor-outdoor bar in right field. To open up the gate, the Indians will move the Bob Feller and Jim Thome statues to another site in the Gate C area. Shapiro said the team also plans to add a statue of Larry Doby, who was the first black player in the American League.
Moving the bullpens up into the seating area in center field to give fans a better view of the players during warm-ups. This shift will create a section of exclusive seats in front of the new bullpens and will open up the existing bullpen space to fans who want to stand closer to the field.
Expanding the Kids Clubhouse, which opened in 2012, to two levels and renovating the mezzanine. The expansion will eliminate 16 or so suites, continuing the team's ongoing efforts to replace higher-priced, poorly used private areas with spaces that all ticketholders can access. After the renovations, the ballpark still will have upwards of 80 suites - far more than the Indians can fill, and more than many other parks offer.
Incorporating five neighborhood-themed areas with food from Ohio City, Tremont and other popular areas of the city.
Shapiro wouldn't put a figure on the costs of the project, which is the first - and largest - of several years worth of renovations the team is considering.

The Indians are paying for the improvements with help from Delaware North Cos., which handles concessions at the facility. None of the work will involve taxpayer funds dedicated to infrastructure improvements - such as heating, concrete and sewage pumps - at the building, which the Indians lease from a nonprofit group governed by a publicly appointed board of directors.

The team is scheduled to make a presentation Wednesday to the board of the Gateway Economic Development Corp., its landlord, which needs to approve any facility alterations. The Indians also expect to appear before a city design review committee and the Cleveland City Planning Commission next week.

"The 'sin tax' was passed in the spirit of having a public-private partnership," Shapiro said, referring to a tax extension on cigarettes and alcohol that Cuyahoga County voters approved earlier this year, to cover costs associated with Cleveland's three professional sports venues. "That takes care of the infrastructure. ... This is the private part of that partnership."

By spring 2015, Progressive Field will go from 42,404 seats to an estimated 35,400, based on rough numbers from the Indians. The park's capacity, which includes planned standing-room only areas, will land somewhere between 37,000 and 38,000 people, said Andrew Miller, senior vice president of strategy and business analytics for the team.

The team is attracting an average of 18,659 fans per game this season, the second-smallest crowd in Major League Baseball.

Across the industry, capacity is down approximately 15 percent over the last 20 years, according to figures compiled by the Indians. Newer sports venues tend to be smaller, and other ballparks are emphasizing social spaces, better technology and higher-end food and beer to appeal to pickier patrons.

"The number one focus is always going to be the team and the field," Shapiro said, acknowledging that a winning team is the surest way to fill seats. "We feel like we're moving in the right direction there."

But, he added, "We're not going to ignore the other aspects, also. We think this is a very important evolution of this ballpark, which is 20 years old."

Are there any baseball rules about the size of stadiums or anything? I'm kind of confused about the sizes of walls. I just think that Indians should make all their walls larger than the Green Giant.

Good stuff. Thanks for the read. The changes will really enhance the ball park and it's entertainment value. Great move on eliminating 7k seats.

Is it just me, it looks like in one of those pics they took out the trees in center field, noooooooo