Author's Blog

November 19, 2008

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Visalia's Work-in-Progress

With the 2009 completion of Visalia’s new section down the right field wall, the look and feel of Recreation Park will be changing dramatically.  Not only will the smallest stadium in the Cal League become bigger, it will have a newer look and feel, at least in sections.  It will also have a new family area in the outfield, which pretty much seems to be a must in any new stadium.  Included is a grass berm above the opposing bullpen, offering a perspective for fans that should be interesting.

The new stadium is being built piecemeal, however, which should make Recreation Park continue to be one of the more unique places to watch baseball.  Original plans were to have a new grandstand, with the same steep elevated profile, by the 2009 season.  Funding has put that off indefinitely, so the dirt filled, concrete façade will stay in place. The new part of the park will start about first base and wrap around the right field.  A new main entrance will be located past the right field pole. Combined with the newer party deck/beer garden, Toyota Terrace, and the Fan Dugout down the left foul line, the new “temporary” state of the park will continue to be one of the most usual in professional baseball, with a stadium that seems to save the right field for VIP’s and families, the left field for parties, and the grandstand for everyone else.

If the new Fan Dugout is any indication, the team and the city are going for a unique fan experience.  This is profiled like a true dugout, even if it includes a place for drinks and a fog mister cooling system.  It’s placed near third base, not far past the cramped home team dugout, giving fans a good players’ view of the game.

The section currently under construction will include a new souvenir shop, a new concession stand, and a Hall of Fame Club, a membership VIP area that will include indoor seating and food.  New seats just outside the VIP center will be reserved mostly for Hall of Fame Club members.

The real question is how will this new construction affect attendance?  There are plenty of cases where a new ballpark greatly increases attendance, at least for the first few years.  Stockton’s Banner Island Ballpark offers a great example.  The Ports went from drawing 98,000 in 2004 to 206,000 in 2005 with the opening of the new park.  Some boost in attendance may have been from the new affiliation with the Oakland Athletics, but far and away the greatest draw has come from the new ballpark.

With the second lowest attendance in 2007, the Oaks could really use a few more fans filling seats.  Yet, “expanded” ballpark or “renovated” ballpark do not have the same appeal as “new” ballpark.  Nor is an expanded ballpark as likely to get a small write up in Sports Illustrated, which Banner Island got in its first year of existence.

Still, the Oaks seem to be making progress.  Attendance has improved over the last few seasons, and the team has already passed 2007 numbers.  Much of that is attributed to the new group areas (complete with fog misters) down the left field line, but so too has the marketing picked up.  The team also plans to replace the tattered playing field for the 2009 season (pending funding from the city), which should complement the stadium improvements and make the whole place feel newer.

For now, the current construction seems to be generating more dust that fans (can’t help but notice the dust laden seats).  The ongoing improvements, however, should continue to draw in new fans and hopefully keep them coming back, while plenty of that quirk that draws people like me will still be around.

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